In memoriam: Patrick Konkin

Patrick Robert Konkin, retired manager of the Student Facilities Group in University Systems, passed away on Jan. 14 following a brief illness.

Pat was among the early graduates of the University of Victoria and took part in the walk from the Lansdowne campus, now occupied by Camosun College, to the then-new Gordon Head campus.

Upon his graduation, Pat was appointed as the first statistical consultant in the newly founded Statistics Laboratory. In this position, he participated in the research work of many graduate students and faculty members, particularly those in the social sciences, by providing advice in statistical analysis. His patience and assistance in helping resolve problems endeared him to many people, and in many cases profoundly influenced the course of their future careers.

At its inception, the Statistics Laboratory was equipped with electromechanical calculators, and Pat saw this machinery replaced with a network of computers as the laboratory was developed into the Cornett Computing Facility, one of the first of the student computer labs.
Pat subsequently played a key role in the development and management of the student computing laboratories in the Human and Social Development and the Business and Economics Buildings, working closely with the faculty members who would be using these labs in their teaching. These facilities became among the largest employers of students on campus, providing invaluable work-related experience while affording them the opportunity to work with and help fellow students.

The student computing facilities became a resource for computing support as faculty and staff members sought help with their computer problems from the student lab staff. To continue to provide this assistance without reducing support to students and faculty members using the labs, Pat devised an arrangement whereby dedicated computer support staff would be located in departments and faculties. As the number of such arrangements grew, Pat established what came to be known as the Faculty Support Team.

Pat oversaw a similar development in connection with the support of Windows network servers. Since the networked computers in the various student labs relied upon server machines for their software and data storage, Pat formed a team of specialists to develop and maintain these servers. Academic and administrative departments soon sought assistance from this team to help build and maintain their own servers. Pat’s original server support team subsequently evolved into the Windows Services group which now provides Windows-related network services throughout the campus.

Pat retired in 2009, but his contributions throughout a 43-year career continue to benefit members of the university. Through his efforts on their behalf, Pat contributed to the careers of numerous faculty and staff members and to the education of generations of students.

Contributed by Dr. Arthur Brett, adjunct associate professor, Department of Linguistics, and G.L. Bluck, senior analyst, Department of Economics