Published in the April 13-26, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
Marty Cheek, publisher Morgan Hill Life
Former Morgan Hill Mayor Dennis Kennedy’s Santa Clara University graduation photo. He earned a degree in mechanical engineering.
Photo courtesy Matt Kennedy
There’s so much to remember with love and laughter about Dennis Kennedy. He had a quick wit, always able to come up with a funny one-liner to someone’s comment or awkward situation — and then he would burst out with thunderous laughter at his own joke.
The first time I met Kennedy was about a dozen years ago at the civic center on the entrance steps of the old library, what now is the Morgan Hill City Hall. The city council faced heated public debate at that time on whether to build the new library in the downtown where it might help businesses with more patrons or at the civic center where it was closer to several schools. I saw Kennedy, then the city’s mayor whom I recognized from photos in newspaper stories, pacing the grounds as if searching for something.
“Whatcha doing, Mr. Mayor?” I asked with curiosity.
Kennedy explained he was looking at the site in consideration for the location of the new library. We got to talking about funding the project and how there wasn’t enough money to have the size of library originally intended.
“If I kick in $6 million to build it, could you name the new library after me?” I asked jokingly.
“We’ll name it whatever you like!” the mayor shot back, and then exploded into his famous robust chortle.
Over the years, we developed a strong friendship. I especially enjoyed our in-depth conversations. Topics ranged from politics (both local and national) to the fine wine produced in the South Valley region to the latest news in science, a passion for both of us.
Kennedy had earned a degree in mechanical engineering at Santa Clara University and worked for decades as a professional mechanical and fluid systems engineer at IBM’s Cottle Road site in San Jose. He later worked for Parson Engineering Science. His science knowledge of fluid dynamics served him well as a politician in understanding engineering projects for the city of Morgan Hill as well as during the several years he spent on the board of directors of the Santa Clara Valley Water District, which he resigned from in November as his cancer symptoms worsened to the point where he could no longer attend meetings.
Kennedy’s son Matt told me his father had worked on several important big projects with national and even global impact. In the 1960s, he was involved in the rocket development of NASA’s Apollo mission at the United Technologies Corporation’s Coyote Ridge test site in south San Jose. I’m sure he must have been inspired in his leadership style by another politician named Kennedy who set forth in 1961 a goal for America to shoot for the Moon by the end of the decade. I don’t know if Dennis Kennedy intentionally modeled himself after JFK, but they both had much in common, with a charming style of communication which encouraged the best in people.
Matt also told me that during the years Kennedy worked at IBM, his dad was involved in developing clean room technology. This requires complicated fluid engineering in moving and filtering air to take out dust and other particles that would contaminate sensitive micro-electronics components. Kennedy’s innovations are still used in clean rooms throughout the world today, so it can be said he played a pioneering role in semiconductor development, which opened the door to the computer revolution.
One of my regrets in my friendship with Kennedy is that I was not able to get him a VIP pass for the opening dedication ceremony of the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. This project was the construction of the most powerful laser in the world for research in fusion energy production as well as basic science of star formation. Kennedy had worked as a consultant in the air conditioning systems. When I told him I would be attending as a reporter, he asked if I could get him in as well. I called one of the press persons with the lab with the request, but they told me the guest list was very limited and they couldn’t invite Kennedy. He took it well when I told him the news. I felt a little bad that day that I was at this celebration while Kennedy with a keen science mind was not able to attend.
The fact that Dennis Kennedy was trained with a scientific mind as a professional engineer made him a rare breed as a politician. Many elected officials today barely have a sense of science literacy. This can be a severe detriment to their decision-making ability. So much of our modern world’s political and social challenges — including global warming and climate change, public health, the environment, and our high-tech focused economy — require an understanding of science knowledge. Learning science-based thinking also trains the mind to question and test information and consider without bias all viewpoints, a skill that can enhance many political leaders’ ability to make wise decisions. Maybe that science-based thinking is what led Mayor Kennedy the day I first met him to explore the grounds of the civic center in his consideration of where to locate Morgan Hill’s new library.
The motto of the Royal Society, a London-based scientific academy, is ‘Nullius in verba.’ This Latin phrase translates to “take nobody’s word for it.” In other words, question authority and verify all statements by an appeal to facts determined by experiment. And in both his professional and political career, Dennis Kennedy did exactly that.
