Remembering the Great Dr. Woodie Flowers
We are deeply saddened to share the news that Dr. Woodie Flowers, Co-Chair of the FIRST Executive Advisory Board has passed away recently. He was a Professor at MIT, where he helped create the renowned 2.007 Engineering Course. He was also instrumental in creating the FIRST Robotics Competition, where he coined the phrase “Gracious Professionalism”, which means that even during the heat of competition we need to remember to be kind and respectful to everyone. Our team had the honor of meeting Dr. Flowers at the 2016 World Championship in Saint Louis, Missouri. As we were leaving the venue one day, a familiar looking man walked by, when just a couple of seconds later one of our members recognized him and exclaimed “Wait, that’s Woodie Flowers!”. For the next couple minutes, we had the pleasure of talking to Dr. Flowers and taking the above picture. We had a wonderful time talking to such a wonderful man, and he will be missed greatly by us and the entirety of the FIRST Community.