We are sad to announce that on November 17, 2021, at the age of 77, Garret N. Vanderplaats (Colorado Springs, Colorado), born in Modesto, California passed away. Family and friends are welcome to leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family.

He was loved and cherished by many people including : his parents, Fred Vanderplaats and Ann Vanderplaats (Hekman); his wife Virginia Vera "Ginny" Vanderplaats; and his sons, Scott and Greg Vanderplaats.

Memorial contributions may be made in Gary Vanderplaats' memory to First Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs.

Funeral arrangement under the care of
Shrine of Remembrance

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Here are the tributes to Garret N. Vanderplaats.

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December 8, 2021

Shubhamkar and Rucha Kulkarni lit a candle

December 8, 2021

Shubhamkar and Rucha Kulkarni sent flowers

“In loving memory of Garret N. Vanderplaats, May your heart and soul find peace and comfort. Your legacy will forever live on and touch the lives so many.”

December 6, 2021

Gyung-Jin (GJ) Park, Hanyang University, Korea sent flowers

“In loving memory of Garret N. Vanderplaats, Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family during this difficult time.”

December 4, 2021

Someone sent flowers

“In loving memory of Gary Vanderplaats, Please accept our most heartfelt sympathies for your loss.”

December 3, 2021

Ravi Teja Katragadda, Supriya Nunna sent flowers

“In loving memory of Garret N. Vanderplaats, Please accept our most heartfelt sympathies for your loss.”

December 3, 2021

Someone sent flowers

December 2, 2021

DI SQUARE Corp. President　Nobutaka　Honda MMJ Corp President　Tadashi Matsuo lit a candle

December 2, 2021

DI SQUARE Corp. President　Nobutaka　Honda MMJ Corp President　Tadashi Matsuo sent flowers

“We were deeply shocked and saddened by the news of Mr. Gary’s passing.The achievements Mr.Gary have made in the optimization analysis industry are highly evaluated in Japan.We would like to express our condolences and thank you for his work so far. May he rest in peace.”

December 1, 2021

Someone sent flowers

December 1, 2021

AISIN CORPORATION, Vice President Kenji Suzuki lit a candle

December 1, 2021

AISIN CORPORATION, Vice President Kenji Suzuki sent flowers

“Please accept our sincere condolences to the family of Dr. Vanderplaats.”

December 1, 2021

From all of us at Vanderplaats Research & Development/OmniQuest sent flowers

“In loving memory of Garret N. Vanderplaats, With deepest sympathies on the loss of our founder, friend and colleague.”

December 1, 2021

Spectrum Materials Engineering planted 10 trees

“In memory of Garret N. Vanderplaats”

Sympathy messages

Would you like to offer Garret N. Vanderplaats’s loved ones a condolence message? Write your message of sympathy today.

18 people wrote a message from the heart

January 26, 2022

Greg Smith wrote a sympathy message

“I was in his Optimization class at UCSB in the early 80's. I will never forget the example he gave for optimization to start the class. It involved 100 baseball teams. The rules were simple. If a game is lost, that team is out. I started off with 100 teams playing 50 games, then 50 teams playing 25 games etc. Once one realizes the constraint of one game loss governs, it is easy to see by direct observation that 99 games must be played before a winner emerges. Simple, yet brilliant.”

December 13, 2021

Trey Walters wrote a sympathy message

“I consider myself very fortunate to have known Gary for 37 years. He was a former professor of mine at UCSB when I was an undergraduate. His class on Optimization deeply influenced me, as did his character. I was honored to have been asked by his wife Ginnie to speak at his memorial service last week. Gary was a great man and friend. My deepest sympathy to Ginnie and his sons.”

December 8, 2021

Om Joshi wrote a sympathy message

“My deepest condolences to Gary’s family and friends. I had the privilege of working under the mentorship and guidance of Gary at Vanderplaats R&D. He was a true visionary. He will be missed dearly. - Om Joshi”

December 8, 2021

Andrew Hwang wrote a sympathy message

“My deepest condolences to family of Dr. Vanderplaats. I had the pleasure working with Gary for several years after receiving my Ph.D. degree. His knowledge had extended the depth and breadth of my understanding in optimization. We shared many fond memories on the Hetch Hetchy hiking in Yosemite National Park, and his teaching at home had impressed me when I visited his home back then. May The Lord grant strength and peace to Gary's family.”

December 8, 2021

Yaw-Kang Shyy wrote a sympathy message

“My sincere condolences to Gary's family, relatives and colleagues. Gary is a pioneer and visionary in developing commercial structural optimization software. I was very lucky to be hired to develop GENESIS in its early days right after my graduation. This experience helps me to develop my whole career. I will miss him. Please rest in peace. Yaw-Kang Shyy”

December 6, 2021

George S. Dulikravich wrote a sympathy message

“Ellen and I visited with Gary and Ginny late last May in their beautiful new home. Gary was full of enthusiasm about new possible developments and nothing indicated that his health will fail and that he will leave us so unexpectedly. Gary has been my role model for close to four decades as a researcher, a generous and supportive friend and as a pioneer in the field of optimization and design. We will miss him deeply. - George S. Dulikravich, Professor, Florida International University, Miami, FL”

December 3, 2021

Ted Rose wrote a sympathy message

“I had the pleasure of working with Gary at several times over the years. In my experience, he was one of the most knowledgeable and honest people I have had the honor of working with. He and his knowledge will be missed.”

December 3, 2021

Prathamesh Sawarkar wrote a sympathy message

“My sincere condolences to Dr. Vanderplaats's family, relatives and colleagues.”

December 2, 2021

Chandan Mozumder wrote a sympathy message

“Our heartfelt condolences to family & friends of Dr. Vanderplaats. Gary is a pioneer in field of optimization algorithm & promoting their application in industry, with extensive career in academia, NASA & his own company. His books on Opt Techniques & MDO are used as primary textbooks by many students like me. His company hired me as a fresh PhD grad and helped lay foundation of my career in the field. Thank you Gary, you will be missed. -Chandan Mozumder (Apple, formerly GM & Vanderplaats R&D)”

November 30, 2021

Christophe charpentier wrote a sympathy message

“My sincere condolences to Gary's family, relatives and colleagues of VRAND. Gary offered me my first job. I remember his kind welcome when I first came to Colorado Springs, welcoming me in his home. I also remember his devotion to work and his great sens of humour. Please rest in peace. Christophe Charpentier”

November 29, 2021

KK Choi wrote a sympathy message

““My sincere condolences to Gary's family, friends and colleagues. I met Gary at a conference in 1981. He was a pioneer in optimization algorithms and made tremendous impact in industry’s use of optimization software. He always smiles and his wit, enjoyment of his work and his openness made significant impression on many colleagues including me. I enjoyed discussing with him on how to help industries. I will dearly miss him.” Dr. KK Choi, Professor Emeritus, Mech. Eng., Univ. of Iowa”

November 28, 2021

Wei Chen wrote a sympathy message

“Please accept my deep condolence to the family of Dr. Vanderplaats. Gary was a pioneer in developing optimization algorithms and bringing them to industry through his endeavor in software industry. I still remember I used his DOT code in Fortran when I was a graduate student more than 25 yars ago. His legend will be remembered by all of us. Dr. Wei Chen, Professor, Northwestern University, President of International Society of Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization (ISSMO)”

November 28, 2021

Srinivas Kodiyalam wrote a sympathy message

“Gary was my Ph.D. advisor at University of California, Santa Barbara. He was the ideal Professor, mentor and coach that one could get. I still remember the several days when he would walk into the Design Optimization Lab and we will walk over to the restaurant on Goleta beach talking about Surrogate Models and Approximation Methods. Gary was also my first boss at VMA Engineering where we had numerous discussions while co-designing and developing the Design Optimization modules in MSC Nastran software. My sincere condolences to Ginny and his family.”

November 28, 2021

Fabien Debarle wrote a sympathy message

“My sincere condolences to Gary's family, friends and colleagues. I keep a warm memory of Gary. He gave me the opportunity to work at VMA/VR&D 23 years ago for a 6 months internship. As a French student, it was a wonderful part of my life, a dream that came true. I'll never forget this time and all the people I met in Colorado. Thank you Gary”

November 26, 2021

Erwin Johnson wrote a sympathy message

“Gary was my mentor for my post-doc under him at NASA/Ames in 1975. He played a significant role in the development of the optimization techniques in the ASTROS and MSC.Nastran codes that I was involved with. He can be remembered as a key developer of commercial structural optimization codes. Gary was also a friend who led us on hiking trips out of Hetch-Hetchy. My family has fond memories of visiting Gary and Virginia at their homes in Santa Barbara and Colorado. My condolences.”

November 26, 2021

Douglas Neill wrote a sympathy message

“My sincere condolences to Gary's family and friends. I met Gary on my first project as a professional engineer in 1983. His wit, enjoyment of life and work and his openness were an influence on my life then and remain so now. My first professional presentation was done at the MDO conference Gary set in the spectacular location of Santa Barbara. I don't think I ever went to a conference again in such a great place. I will miss him.”

November 25, 2021

Masoud Rais-Rohani wrote a sympathy message

“I extend my sincere condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Dr. Vanderplaats. I had the pleasure of meeting Gary for the first time as a grad student in the 80's with frequent encounters in the years that followed. He made a lasting impression on me with his generous demeanor combined with his numerous enduring contributions and innovations in the field of optimization. He will be greatly missed. May his memories bring joy to his loved ones! Masoud Rais-Rohani Univ. of Maine”

November 25, 2021

Shahrokh Shahpar wrote a sympathy message

“Very sad to hear of Dr. Vanderplaats passing, although I don't live or work in the USA I had been influenced by his methods and teachings, a true pioneer of MDO techniques - He will be greatly missed. God rest his soul. Prof, Dr, Shahrokh Shahpar, FRoyalSoc,FAIAA.”