William Bakaleinikoff, inventor of robot

In a historic address covered by international media, Anne Arundel Community College’s 1983 commencement speaker warned graduates that technology was transforming the workforce — and urged them to be adaptable.

The speaker? A 4-foot tall, 175-pound white fiberglass robot with red eyes, a camera lens nose and a bow tie. Its name? Robot Redford. “Today every man, woman and child has a relationship to computers,” it said, according to The Washington Post. “But do you remember just a few decades ago when computers were controversial? Society has not always welcomed technological advances with open arms.”

Bill Bakaleinikoff, the robot’s energetic, fun-loving inventor, died after a three-year battle with kidney cancer on June 20. The resident of Half Moon Bay, Calif., was 75.

Delivering the robot’s speech — via a microphone from beneath the bleachers — was one of his fondest memories, said Ellen Chiri-Bakaleinikoff, his wife of 24 years.

“He just had a great time,” she said. “He was one of those people who was like the human equivalent of spring.”

William Paul Theriot Bakaleinikoff was born in Hollywood, Calif., on Nov. 11, 1942, to Anthony Theriot, a mechanic who worked on Indianapolis 500 cars, and his wife, Yvonne, a dressmaker.

After the marriage ended, his mother married orchestra conductor Mischa Bakaleinikoff, who adopted William and his brother, Tony.

A nature lover, Mr. Bakaleinikoff grew up surfing the Southern California coast. In his late teens he reconnected with his father and the two discovered their shared love of cars and racing.

Mr. Bakaleinikoff served in the Marine Corps from 1962 to 1968, then founded an advertising agency that helped promote the U.S. aerospace industry. He moved in the 1970s to Northern California, where he enjoyed the live music scene and created “Sit Where You Want,” a guide to Bay Area concert venues.

He joined Advanced Robotics in the early 1980s to lead its in-house advertising and created Superior Robotics of America and Star Robots USA, where he developed the robot that would bring him international attention at Anne Arundel.

The reaction to the commencement speech wasn’t all positive.

“It raised eyebrows at the time,” Ms. Chiri-Bakaleinikoff said. “People seemed to be either delighted, shocked or displeased.”

More than a few students and faculty derided the move as a publicity stunt — especially once they heard that Mr. Bakaleinikoff, not the robot itself, would deliver the speech.

“We’d really rather have had some politician up there, saying nothing, than a machine saying nothing,” a math professor told The Post.

Mr. Bakaleinikoff didn’t mind courting a controversy. He was the type who enjoyed pushing people to expand their thinking and question the world around them, his wife said.

“He liked to engage people, to get the mental wheels turning,” she said.

The commencement wasn’t Robot Redford’s last public appearance. The “showbot,” as Mr. Bakaleinikoff called it, was invited to the 1996 Robot Wars Final in San Francisco. But Mr. Bakaleinikoff refused to outfit his creation with spinning blades or a battering ram and enter it into the battle royale, Ms. Chiri-Bakaleinikoff said.

The robot, he emphasized, was “a lover, not a fighter.” Instead, Robot Redford served as the greeter at the event.

The couple later founded ChiriBakaleinikoff & Associates International, a firm that helped recruit sponsors for a car in the Indianapolis Racing League. That role scored Mr. Bakaleinikoff a promotional ride around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway — a big deal to him, his wife said, given his father’s career as a race car mechanic.

Mr. Bakaleinikoff retired in 2000 and did charity work, volunteering as a bell-ringer for the Salvation Army.

“He had the biggest, greatest heart,” his wife said. “He really was loved by a lot of people.”

What became of Robot Redford? Ms. Chiri-Bakaleinikoff said their son, David, recently discovered the robot in the couple’s basement. “Robot Redford,” she said, “lives on.” In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Bakaleinikoff is survived by another son, Mischa Bakaleinikoff, of Santa Rosa, Calif.; daughter Whitney Bakaleinikoff, of Sedona, Ariz.; two sisters, Annie Bakaleinikoff, of Redding, Calif., and Penny Theriot Perigan, of Dandridge, Tenn.; and many grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

A memorial celebration will be held in September.