Alumni of 34 School
About B.D.Rakover
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7 April 1998
Hello Rafael,
My name is Anna Zheleznyak. My father Boris Davidovich Rakover
established math classes in that school, as you know.
It was his creation, pride and joy. We moved to United States in 1980
and now live in Rochester, NY. For ten years my father was a math
professor at a local private college, where students adored him as much
as his russian students. It is still hard for me to say the words that
he passed away in 1990, still unbelievable. There are so many people
who loved him for his extraordinary personality, love of mathematics
and different approach of teaching! I am sure that he was teaching you.
My brother David Rakover graduated from School #34 in 1973 and also
lives in Rochester. I took a different path and studied in special
school of music, it was called "desitiletka" by the name of E. Koka.
My internet address is azheleznyak@frontiercorp.com
and my home phone number is 716-381-8140.
It is very touching that people still remember those years, throughout
my childhood I breathed and lived my dad's aspirations for this
school.
I am glad that somthing like this is starting, you may contact me if
you'd like.
Thanks -- Anna
12 May 98
Hi Rafael,
There is so much I could tell your about my dad, about his
achievements, publications, recognitions! His years in USA were utmost
intersting and fulfilling, but it did not happen on day one. When we
came to Rochester, my dad's knowledge of English was quite minimal. So,
he put all his time and energy into studying English. His first job was
at XEROX as modeling mathematician/programmer. However, he always knew
that it was temporary, since he could see himself only by the
blackboard with chalk in his hand. And you know what? After about 1
year, he landed a part-time job at a college, where he tought Calculus
III and Calculus IV. I am not going into his deep knowledge of the
subject - it is a given. In addition, his genial dedication, sense of
humor and never-tiring attitude to help a student understand a
concept, won him tremendous respect from his students and colleages.
His goal was to be understood in a classroom and with language
limitation at that time, it was quite a challenging task. I remember
how every night he was always busy in his study room with dictionaries
and notes for the next day's lectures. And with every lecture, he
expressed himself better and better. Hard work and constant desire to
become somebody again in the new country were his main driving forces.
His hard work was never a burden for him, on the opposite, he viewed it
as a necessary tool to get to were he wanted to be - full time
math professor. And it happened in 1981, where he got a full time
position as an associate professor of mathematics and computer science,
Ph. D. There is a certain path to follow to become a tenured member of
the faculty, it takes 6 years and he became full Professor in 6 years.
He recieved complete recognition, based on who he was and nothing was on
his way to success.
In 1986, he got an award for being "The Best Teacher of the year".
It was excpecially important because it came from
the students, who nominated him. I remember a big party in his honor,
speaches for him and his speach in return. Our whole family was there,
I cannot express how proud we all were for him, he was on the top!
I remember that it was his dream to organize a reunion with his
students from Russia, it would have been possible ...
He attended several international congresses as a speaker. One of the most
interesting ones that stuck in my mind is his trip to Budapest in 1988.
As usual, he was giving a presentation at this conference. He met his
colleages from Moscow who represented USSR (at that time) and he
represented United States of America. It was a milestone for him! My father was
very sociable person, he loved people and, of course, he spent a lot of
time with his Russian friends, telling them about the life in the
"west", the difference between american and russian education system.
In 1990, he was supposed to go to International Math Symposium in Japan,
but he already was sick and could not do it.
Also, papa was published in the book "Who is Who in America" during the
time of Ronald Reagan presidency. Papa was always joking that Professor
Rakover and President Reagan were published in such prestigious book
same year and even on the same page.
I apologize that my writing is a little bit scattered, jumping from one
topic to another. There are so many recollections!
On this note I will end, hope that my story was of interst to you,
All the best -- Anna
Rochester, New-York
27 May 98
Hello, Rafael!
You found on the Internet the college where my dad worked -
St. John Fisher College, in Rochester NY. Our town is a typical American town,
"one-story America", it is an industrial center with such corporations
as Kodak, Xerox, General Motors as well as excellent University ( U of
R), Rochester Institute of Technology, one of the best medical schools
in the country. The metropolitan area is surrounded by beautiful
suburbs. We're located 3 hours away from Toronto and 1 1/5 hours from
Niagara Falls.
I have two children, two boys ages 14 - Leonard and 10 - Matthew.
My dad loved them more than you can imagine, being a very busy
grandfather, he still spent a lot of time with them. I remember those
days in the summer, when papa took Leonard to college for the whole
day, took him places. Now, in the college library there is a big
portrait of Dr. Boris Rakover. Recently I was there with the kids and
it was very emotional for us.
I was a student there too and even took one course from my father.
There was no "blat" or "poblaszhek" from him, I had to do all the
work if not more, to meet deadline, otherwise I knew the consequences.
I received my Bachelors Degree in Business with concentration in
Management Information Systems in 1984. The graduation ceremony is
very majestic, when the students and the teaching staff walk in the
long procession, wearing long robes and hats. That year we both were
walking together, it was a blessing! There was so much wisdom in this
man, he knew how to deal with people, how to handle difficult
situations, be diplomatic and to get desired results.
All the best wishes to you -- Anna
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