For as long as he can remember, Roger Bielefeld has been passionate about math. The interest drove childhood ambitions to become a scientist, and—with many degrees in the field to his name—Bielefeld achieved just that.
The longtime Case Western Reserve University employee is retiring today (July 19) after a decades-long career as both a staff and faculty member, most recently serving as the university’s assistant vice president for research computing and infrastructure services with [U]Tech.
In this senior leadership role, Bielefeld has been responsible for areas ranging from research computing to network engineering, servers and cloud services, identity management engineering and more. It’s the latest position in his 34-year tenure following his hiring in 1990, but his connection to CWRU began much earlier than that.
Originally from Cincinnati, the math scholar first arrived on CWRU’s campus in 1977 to pursue a master’s degree in computer engineering—the second graduate degree to his name after earning his bachelor’s and master’s in mathematics from Miami University.
When asked why he enjoyed the field so much, Bielefeld reflected: "Math doesn’t require memorizing a lot of facts. It’s very logic-driven."
An evolving career
Bielefeld paused his graduate program to work full-time for several years as a lecturer in the medical school’s then-Department of Biometry—later the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and now the Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences. He left CWRU for several years in the 80s, working in the private sector and enjoying stints at Harvard University and Cleveland State University—but by 1990, he was a Spartan once again, where he earned his PhD in Biostatistics in 1992.
His career with CWRU led him to many roles, including serving as an assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics for most of the 90s. He later served as a non-tenure track faculty member at Weatherhead School of Management as well, ultimately transitioning to the staff side in [U]Tech where he held adjunct faculty positions with the medical and dental schools.
Throughout these roles, he’s compiled a unique and valuable skill set.
"All these fields have helped me gain a strong background," Bielefeld explained, "but most of my publications and research have been in mathematical modeling."
Bielefeld recalls many fond memories apart from these skills. From grading FORTRAN programming assignments as a grad student to writing the first version of the Cleveland Free-Net system in 1986, the technologies he’s managed have evolved dramatically over the years—but what’s been constant is Bielefeld’s affection for the people he’s called colleagues and students.
"As a faculty member, I’ve been very proud to see my former students go on to get their doctorates and, in some cases, become full professors here at CWRU," he said. "There’s a very top-notch faculty here, too; to be able to be part of it and later on collaborate with it as a staff member to enable further research has been very rewarding."
Bielefeld feels similarly affectionate for his colleagues in [U]Tech who are carrying on his work. He first developed the university’s research computing and high performance computing services from scratch in 2004—and he’s confident the future of these services is in good hands.
"I am grateful to my colleagues who are now doing such a great job in carrying on that work and to the faculty who, especially in the early years, entrusted their research computing needs to those emerging services and helped them succeed," he said.
In retirement, Bielefeld is eager to complete volunteer political work before the fall election, but ultimately is excited to place a greater focus on hobbies.
"I am looking forward to continuing my efforts to learn French," he said, "and to have more time to play the banjo, play tennis, travel, and improve my cooking skills."