Longtime Prairie View A&M University professor Dr. George A. Roberts was found dead Monday evening at his home in a subdivision south of Hempstead.According to the Waller County Sheriff’s Office, Roberts was discovered with a single gunshot wound by his wife, in what law enforcement officials are calling “an apparent suicide.” The exact cause of death, and the entrance of the bullet wound are still under investigation pending results from the Harris County Medical Examiner.
Roberts, who was professor of mathematics in the College of Arts and Sciences, taught here at Prairie View for 22 years. He served on several university committees and was graduate advisor and graduate coordinator for his department. Over the years he served on more than 30 departmental committees, and was vice president of the Faculty Senate.
Roberts taught at his alma mater, Wiley College, where he advanced from the rank of instructor in 1966, to professor and head of the department of mathematics. During that time he completed his Ph.D. in mathematics at Texas A&M University, in 1979. The title of his dissertation was “Uniqueness and Interpolation of Entire Harmonic Functions.” He joined the Prairie View A&M University faculty as associate professor in 1983.
In addition to his teaching career spanning 40 years, Roberts published in the Journal of Approximation Theory, presented research papers at national meetings, and made contributions to several funded projects, including Title III-MATH-NET, University AROTC Skills Development, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and the National Science Foundation.
Roberts received numerous awards throughout his tenure, including Teacher of the Year, Educational Achievement, Omega Man of the Year, Outstanding Turner Graduate, and Personalities of the South. He was also inducted into the Science Hall of Fame. He served as Adult Leader for the Boy Scouts of America Troop 141, chair of the Scholarship Committee of the Nu Iota Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Adult Sunday School Teacher and chair of the Deacon Board and the Building Fund Committee at Walnut Grove Baptist Church in Carthage, Texas.
Dr. Evelyn Thornton, professor of mathematics, said, “Dr. Roberts was a distinguished professor and a great teacher who inspired all who worked with him or who worked under his tutelage. As a colleague he was dependable, timely, devoted, and honorable.”
Thornton, a former head of the department of mathematics, described Roberts as a model faculty member and citizen who led an exemplary life of dedication and service.
Dr. Aliakbar Haghighi, head of the department of mathematics, said, “Professor Roberts was a nice responsible faculty member. I express my condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. We are sorry to have lost one of our department’s best professors, and he will be missed.”
Roberts is survived by his wife Mary, and three sons, Michael, Jason, and John.