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Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Founding Dean Philip E. Bourne
On Friday, March 20, hundreds of guests, including faculty, staff, students, and community members, gathered to pay homage to Philip E. Bourne, the founding dean of the University of Virginia School of Data Science.
Throughout the Data Science building, cocktail tables with framed photos showed a man as comfortable presenting at a prestigious conference as he was flipping burgers during “Phil on the Grill,” an annual tradition that welcomed students each fall.
Outside the Capital One Hub, members of the motorcycle club Hell’s Administrators, of which Bourne was a founding member, rolled in to pay tribute to the founding dean with “Time” by Pink Floyd resonating from the speakers.
Inside, a portrait of Bourne in front of the boardroom table filled the two-story screen; his motorcycle helmet and jacket displayed beside the podium.
The memorial service began with a cello duet of “Yesterday” by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, performed by Emma Candelier, the director of Marketing and Communication, and Brian Helmke, associate professor of Biomedical Engineering.
Jeffrey Blume, the interim dean at the School, welcomed guests with an opening speech. “As founding dean of the School of Data Science, Phil built something extraordinary here — not just an institution, but a place defined by people, curiosity, and a sense of possibility.”
More than a dozen family members, colleagues, and friends offered remembrances, highlighting Bourne’s groundbreaking contributions to the fields of biomedical research and data science, his uncanny ability to be simultaneously in the present moment while looking 10 years into the future, and his optimistic, joyful attitude.
One of the first slides during the memorial included one of his favorite lines from Monty Python: “Always look on the bright side of life.”
A Future Topic of Legend
When Interim Executive Vice President and Provost Brie Gertler, who first met Bourne in 2018, spoke at the service, she remembered her initial tour of the Data Science Institute (DSI). She recalled that the tour did not take a lot of time, as the DSI consisted of what she described as “a handful of researchers in cubicles in a trailer.”
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But Bourne’s vision, she said, made it feel like “a future topic of legend,” a humble start with extraordinary ambition. “This amazing building reflects how far Phil has taken that vision for data science at UVA. … And as Phil would point out, this is just the beginning.” Gertler added that UVA owes Bourne deep gratitude for his audacity in imagining both the potential for data science and the University.
To turn the DSI into what we now know as the School of Data Science, Bourne needed then UVA President Jim Ryan’s backing. But Ryan wasn’t initially sold on the idea. “Actually, I think I told him something more like, ‘No way, never,’” Ryan said at the service.
Recognizing what was involved in creating what would become UVA’s 12th school, Ryan was skeptical. “‘Why a school?’ I asked. ‘Why silo data science? Why have to put together another administrative team? Why pull students from existing schools and departments? Isn't a ‘school without walls,’ the same as no school at all?’” he asked, eliciting laughter from the audience.
What Ryan remembers most was the look on Bourne’s face. Bourne was disappointed, but there was a twinkle in his eyes — a combination of optimism and confidence, like Bourne knew the conversation wasn’t over.
“I was a little puzzled, but it was a look that I would see time and again during the years that we worked together,” Ryan said. “Phil's expression was that of a visionary. … Phil saw things that others didn't. He knew what was coming in data science, for example, and how it was already changing the world within and outside of academia and would continue to do so.”
While visionaries often become frustrated or aggressive when others do not catch on to what seems obvious to them, Bourne took a different path, Ryan recalled. He said that Bourne would find a way to continue the conversation until you saw what he did. He was confident that once you saw his path, you would agree to follow.
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It Was Always About the People
Multiple speakers emphasized Dean Bourne’s remarkable contributions to the School of Data Science: The over 130 employees; the growing undergraduate, master’s, and Ph.D. programs; and everyone who gathered are a testament to his vision. But Bourne’s focus was rarely on himself.
“He spoke a great deal about his vision for the School, but he spoke more about the people in the School,” Blume said. “The people, he would say, were the heart and soul of the School. …For Phil, it was always about the people.”
Bourne met every new hire and weighed in on every hiring decision. Just weeks before he died, when chemotherapy had weakened his immune system, he still insisted on welcoming each new addition to the School one-on-one over Zoom.
“He was generous in so many ways, but … the most precious resource that he had was his time, and he never hesitated to give his time to people,” said Don Brown, founding director of the DSI. Brown explained that Bourne met with Ph.D. students and master’s students at least twice a year. “He would flip hundreds of hamburgers in order to just be part of the community.”
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Expect the Unexpected
“Phil was more about satisfying his curiosity than he was about ticking off accomplishments, and he was especially curious about people,” said John Unsworth, former dean of libraries at UVA and fellow member of Hell’s Administrators.
“Being curious about people means being open to people, open to experiences different from your own, open to new ideas,” Unsworth added. “If you are open to it, people will tell you their stories. So people told Phil their stories. He was gathering data about humanity, but he was also learning stories from strangers about their experience.”
Unsworth shared how much Bourne loved riding all over the world, from Australia, to the United Kingdom, Turkey, and other far-flung places. “We’d ride west to the Blue Ridge Parkway, or beyond to Monterey, Virginia, or on to West Virginia … and he just loved it.”
Unsworth talked about how important it was to expect the unexpected and survive the activity. “But the reward for this vigilance is the unexpected vista as you come around the bend, pop over the horizon, the road, and then when you stop for that meal for the night, the unexpected encounter with new and often quite interesting people,” he said.
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As Kind as He Was Brilliant
More than his incredible accomplishments as a scientist and as founding dean, more than his epic motorcycle adventures dodging kangaroos in the outback even, what came up the most at Phil Bourne’s memorial service was his character.
Bourne was described as an extraordinary human, father, husband, mentor, and friend to all. “Phil was a friend to all in a sincere and understated way,” Ryan said. “He took his work seriously, and he knew it was important, but he had no trace of self-importance. Whenever you mentioned his name around Grounds, the reaction was always the same: ‘I just love Phil Bourne.’ I felt the same way.”
“He was as kind as he was brilliant, and as down to earth as he was visionary,” UVA President Scott Beardsley said. “He also had a twinkle in his eye and an outlook that was eternally youthful and optimistic.”
His son, Scott Bourne, described him as impossibly funny, ever optimistic, and encouraging as a father. “To my sister and I, he wasn't just Phil Bourne the dean. He was Phil born the Cub Scout leader, the go-kart builder, the field trip organizer, the computer fixer, the career advisor, the driving instructor — not a great one there if I’m being honest — the problem solver, the confidant, and above all, the best role model two kids can ask for.”
Scott Bourne went on to say that his mom, Roma Bourne, was actually the essential ingredient to his dad’s success. He and many others at the memorial described the Bournes’ legendary dinner parties that no one wanted to leave, his mom’s famous cooking, and his dad’s eardrum-shattering laugh. “He loved hosting friends old and new,” he said. “He always wanted to bring people together.”
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Associate Dean of Administration Arlyn Burgess was the DSI’s first employee and worked closely with Bourne for nine years. She remembers the photos he sent of him beaming with his brand-new grandbaby Jessie and videos with an exaggerated Beatles accent. She remembers him catching people singing and joining in. “Phil found such great love and strength in his own family that he naturally brought that vision into our data science family,” she said.
Burgess mentioned that one of Bourne’s superpowers was his ability to look into the future while keeping a pulse on the needs of the present moment. “He had an amazing ability to be looking 10 years ahead when most of us were stuck in today,” Burgess shared. Gertler added that Bourne inspired his colleagues to ask themselves if the tasks of the day were in line with the future they wanted to create.
Onwards!
Multiple speakers discussed the importance of honoring Bourne’s legacy. “It just seems to me that the best way to honor this remarkable man is to carry on his work,” said Scott Stephenson, chair of the Advisory Board and a founding benefactor of the School. He said that this will mean elevating the School’s scholarship, research, education, and reach throughout the University.
Ryan echoed Stephenson’s sentiments. “Phil Bourne was as beloved a man as I've ever met, and deservedly so, I hope and trust he felt it,” he said. “All of us here will miss Phil. All of us will remember him. I hope we also continue to honor him by trying to see what he saw, and then moving, as he would always say, onwards, always.”
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When Bourne first got sick, Burgess told him she was scared. “I was scared the School and the University couldn't do it without you, but you told me you knew without a doubt that we could,” she said. “So you better bet we're going to continue pressing onwards, and we'll be searching the sky for you when we open that next building and hope we continue to make you proud.”
After the remembrances concluded and Blume offered closing remarks, a reception followed, giving guests a chance to sign Bourne’s memorial book and contribute to the Data Science Faculty Excellence Fund. The service was live streamed, and a video of the memorial is available.
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