Dr. Robert Main Burton

Dr. Robert Main Burton of Corvallis died Saturday, June 23. He was 69 years old. He was born August 4, 1948, in Bethesda, MD, to Robert and Maurine (Parshall) Burton. Much of his childhood was spent in Webster Groves, MO. As a teenager, he ran away to Greenwich Village, NY, where he slept on a stage at the restaurant where he worked. He eventually returned home to attend Washington University in St. Louis where he majored in mathematics, wrote poetry, and led protests against the Vietnam War. He moved west to the Bay Area in the midst of the Cultural Revolution, where he lived in a Berkeley commune and attended over 100 Grateful Dead shows. He earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from Stanford University in 1977. In 1979, he became an assistant professor of mathematics at Oregon State University in Corvallis, where he raised his family of three children with Sharon Cameron. During his long career at OSU, he served as chair of the Mathematics Department, taught in the Honors College, and served as Assistant Provost in Academic Affairs. He met his wife, Vicki Tolar Burton, while serving on the University Curriculum Council. He was internationally known for his work in stochastic probability, chaos theory, and neural networks. To him, there was little division between mathematics, art, music, and the patterns of the universe. Bob loved math, but not nearly as much as he loved his wife and family. He is survived by his wife Vicki Tolar Burton of Corvallis; daughter Sarah Main Burton of Corvallis; daughter Maya Burton Severson and son-in-law Kevin Severson of Tigard; son Taber Monro Burton and daughter-in-law Alyssa Burton of Seeley Lake, MT; brother Lt. Col. James Burton (ret.) and sister-in-law April Burton of Elk Grove, CA; stepdaughter Sarah Lench and spouse Eric Lench of Corvallis; stepson Jeffrey Collins and spouse Laurie Collins of Philadelphia; and five grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents Robert and Maurine Burton; and siblings William, Fredrick, and Katherine. A memorial service will be held at 1pm Tuesday, July 10, at First Presbyterian Church of Corvallis, followed by a reception in Dennis Hall. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in his memory to the Association of Women in Mathematics. Bob was a survivor, and he inspired us all by his strength and courage. He is resting easy now with God, perhaps listening to his favorite Dead song and working on a math problem. May the solution he finds be elegant and infinite. Please leave condolences and memories at www.mchenryfuneralhome.com

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Dr. Robert Main Burton

August 4, 1948 - June 23, 2018