Obituary of Dr. Eleanor Chin-Hwa Chu

CHU, Dr. Eleanor Chin-Hwa passed away on February 28, 2017 at the age of 66 in Lion’s Head. Cherished wife and soul mate for 28 years of Dr. Robert Hiscott, leaving behind her beloved golden retriever, Portia. Survived by her mother, Chien-Shar Lee, brother Daniel (Jennie) Lee, nephews David (Kristen) Lee and Jon (Mabel) Lee, and sister-in-law Bonita (Paul) Wolfe. Predeceased by her father, Chung-Chih Lee, father-in-law, Robert Cecil Hiscott and mother-in-law, Elizabeth Hiscott. Eleanor was born in Taipei, Taiwan and earned her first degree in Agricultural Chemistry from National Taiwan University (B.Sc., 1973). She came to Canada in 1977 to pursue studies in Physics and Mathematics at Acadia University (B.Sc., 1980; M.Sc. 1981) and further graduate studies in Computer Science at the University of Waterloo (M.Math., 1984; Ph.D., 1988). She pursued a research and academic career, initially at the University of Waterloo, and subsequently joined the faculty of University of Guelph in 1991 where she was promoted to Full Professor in 2001, and retired in 2008. Eleanor supervised the research of many graduate students and taught thousands of undergraduate students over the course of her career. She authored journal articles in the broad areas of computational mathematics including scientific computing, matrix analysis and applications, parallel computing, linear algebra and its applications, supercomputing and high-performance computing applications. Eleanor was the principal author of “Inside the FFT Black Box: Serial and Parallel Fast Fourier Transform Algorithms” (CRC Press, 2000), and sole author of “Discrete and Continuous Fourier Transforms: Analysis, Applications and Fast Algorithms” (CRC Press, 2008). After retiring, Eleanor and Rob settled in the Village of Lion’s Head on the beautiful Bruce Peninsula, where Eleanor continued to pursue her passion of playing piano by taking lessons from Arlene MacNay and always learning new pieces and enhancing techniques. Special thanks to Dr. Dave Thomson and all the doctors, nurses and staff of Lion’s Head Hospital and Peninsula Family Health Team, Dr. Ian Quist, as well as staff of Victorian Order of Nurses and Care Partners for their care and kindness given to Eleanor during her time of need. Private funeral arrangements according to Eleanor’s wishes. Arrangements entrusted to the GEORGE FUNERAL HOME, LION’S HEAD CHAPEL, Lion’s Head. The Dr. Eleanor Chu Scholarship will be established and permanently endowed for full-time undergraduate students in physics or mathematics at Acadia University, Eleanor’s first Canadian alma mater. Messages of condolence are welcome at www.georgefuneralhome.com