Professor found dead; official cause of death unknown

Ryan Murphy
News Editor

Amir Vera
Staff Writer

The investigation continues in the case of a VCU professor found dead in Charles City County late in December. A preliminary investigation indicated suicide, but no official cause of death has been released.

David Primeaux, Ph.D, was an associate professor in VCU’s Computer Science department and worked at the university since 1996. During his time at VCU, Primeaux published a number of articles on artificial neural networks, machine learning and the ethics of privacy in the age of the internet. He was 62.

Primeuax was a native of Lafayette, La. He was living in Petersburg at the time of his death. Petersburg police said they got a call early in the evening on Dec. 27 about Primeaux.

“We were contacted by Primeaux’s wife who expressed some concern that he had left home,” said Major Bill Rhode of the Petersburg Police Department. “She had felt that he wasn’t in a good frame of mind and was concerned for his safety.”

The department contacted Primeaux by phone, who reportedly told the officers that “his battery was getting low, he had some other loose ends he had to take care of and he wasn’t going to use up his battery talking to us and he disconnected,” Rhode said. After losing contact with Primeaux, the police put out a bulletin to the surrounding areas for police to be on the lookout for Primeaux, 5’10, 165 pounds, with very thick dark brown hair and glasses, or his vehicle, a silver 1986 Mazda pickup truck.

The following afternoon, Primeaux’s body was found in Charles City County. An investigation has been opened and an autopsy ordered, which Rhode says is standard procedure after the discovery of a death of this sort. As of Friday, the Charles City County Medical Examiner’s Office had not completed the full autopsy report.

On Dec. 28, the office of Beverly J.Warren, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs released a statement to faculty and staff that notified faculty and staff of Primeaux’s death. The statement said, in part: “Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and to his VCU colleagues who have worked closely with Dr. Primeaux during his more than 15 years as a faculty member at VCU.”

Primeaux was remembered at a Jan. 2 memorial service at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Petersburg. Three men spoke about his life and his legacy.

One of those men was James Ames, an associate professor in VCU’s computer science department and knew Primeaux since he arrived at VCU almost 17 years ago. He noted that his legacy is the level of interest he took in his students.

“He followed his students even after they graduated and made sure that they were doing well,” Ames said. “He loved the culture and nature of VCU, which is one of the reasons he ended up here. He loved his students. He enjoyed doing his research, but he truly loved just teaching students and bringing his students along,”

Primeaux had multiple doctoral degrees, one in computer science and one in philosophy, which Ames said he used to engage his students.

“The blend of those two areas (computer science and philosophy) is one of thing that actually made him interesting to students,” Ames said.

According to Ames, part-time professors, including two of Primeaux’s former Ph.D. students, were hired to cover the three courses Primeaux was set to teach this semester.

“I know a lot of students are going to be disappointed with the fact that they’re not going to be teaching those courses,” he said. “It’s real emotional in the department right now. A lot of students and faculty are very upset still. We just shake our heads and say ‘How could this happen? What does it mean?’ and everything else like that just trying to make sense out of it.”

Before the memorial service, Primeaux’s family asked that instead of sending flowers, well-wishers should send donations to one of Primeaux’s great passions, the Historic Petersburg Foundation.

Robert White was another of the speakers at the service. White is the current president of the Historic Petersburg Foundation. He met Primeaux about ten years ago and said they became good friends about four years ago. White remembered Primeaux, a longtime member and trustee of the Historic Petersburg Foundation, as an instrumental leader in historical preservation efforts in Petersburg, including the creation of two groups meant to help preserve historic buildings in Petersburg and redeveloping neighborhoods in the area.

“He was very good at finding common ground when there was disagreement. He would take a very level-headed approach to planning out what the needs were, and mitigating those needs and arbitrating differences so that there could be resolution,” White recalled.

He said Primeaux was also an avid sailor and enjoyed cooking and entertaining.

W. Howard Myers, councilman for the 5th Ward in Petersburg, also spoke at the service for Primeaux. He said that Primeaux will be remembered in Petersburg as someone who adamantly advocated that people give back to their communities and preserve the history of their area for future generations.

“How he brought people together to work out any common differences and the preservation and rebuilding of Petersburg … that truly was David’s legacy, his ability to get people from different sides of the table to come along and work for the betterment of the city, its architectural preservation and to become active members of organizations throughout Petersburg,” Meyers said.

All three of the men said that they were saddened and shocked by Primeaux’s death.

“I can’t think of a better person on this Earth that I have seen, or found, or become friends with,” Meyers said.