
Rajeev Motwani, Google founders' professor and early investor, dies - ciscoriordan
http://venturebeat.com/2009/06/05/rajeev-motwani-google-founders-professor-and-early-investor-dies/
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voberoi
This is insane. I took his class on Automata and Complexity Theory
(cs154.stanford.edu) two years ago, and I have friends who came out of the
final exam for the class only a few hours ago.

I remember really enjoying this class, despite not having much of a knack for
deeply theoretical CS. I was introduced to the concepts behind automata,
turing machines, deterministic and nondeterministic computing, decidability
theory, NP-completeness, and so on. I enjoyed this class _entirely_ because of
the way he taught it -- he took great care in the precision, concision, and
clarity of his lectures.

What a deeply talented, smart, and clearly influential individual. My
condolences go out to his family and friends.

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dlg
I'm on a plane that's about to close its doors so can't write more, but what a
great guy. In school, I used his Randomized Algorithms books which was great.

I met him randomly, but he helped us meet the ultimate acquirers of our
startup and gave us a bunch of great ideas about algorithms, software, and who
to meet. Invaluable for two kids who had just moved to the valley.

Wish I could have worked with him more--was actually hoping to on the next
startup.

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sown
Death awaits us at every corner of life.

Tomorrow is Saturday. So, go out, hug a friend, enjoy a good meal, dance with
a partner, love someone you love because you never know when death lurks in
the shadows.

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ajju
A cousin of mine met him just by chance while visiting Stanford to check out
the grad school last year. Prof. Motwani was more than happy to sit down with
him for almost an hour and give him career advice. Being so open and helpful
to strangers while being so successful is a rare trait and a sure indicator of
greatness.

May his family find the strength to get through this tragedy.

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davepeck
Randomized Algorithms is one of those books that frustrated, challenged, and
ultimately enlightened me. I have at least one friend who I know worked
closely with him and always had kind words to say. A sad loss.

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vaksel
how old was he? How come you don't see the guy's age listed in any of the
stories covering this?

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sankoz
In India, generally B Tech degree is completed when the student is aged 21.
Since he did it in 1983, he should be 47. Just a guess.

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sev
I am humbled by his achievements and academic work. Sad to see such an
influential figure leave us. A tragic loss for us all.

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lacker
Rest in peace.

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nebula
Sergey Brin's tributes: <http://too.blogspot.com/2009/06/remembering-
rajeev.html>

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NobodyImportant
That's really sad. R.I.P.

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erlanger
Very sad news. What exactly happened? I read that it was a "swimming pool
accident" on Wikipedia, but none of the sources verified this.

