It is with great sadness that we share the news of the sudden death of our friend, and colleague, Dr. Yahiko Kambayashi. Yahiko passed away on February 6, 2004.

Yahiko was Professor and Dean in the Graduate School of Informatics at Kyoto University. As a computer scientist and engineer he had studied and followed our research for many years.

We first met Yahiko in the Spring of 2002 when he invited Alan to participate in a number of activities in Japan, including the IPA Grants Program (a national government-sponsored grants initiative) a collaboration with Kyoto University, and what was then the beginning of the "Kyoto Schools" or as Yahiko named it, the "ALAN-K Project" (Advanced Learning and Networking in Kyoto Project). Since that time we had numerous wonderful interactions and meetings with Yahiko, including two international "C5" Conferences; the second of which concluded only days before he passed away.

Alan and Yahiko also co-taught the "TIDE" (Transpacific Interactive Distance Education) course between UCLA and Kyoto University in the Spring 2003 and were due to teach this course again this Spring.

During this collaboration and time together we came to know what an extraordinary man Yahiko was. He was involved in an amazing number of projects and had ties around the world. He had a marvelous sense of humor and treated his graduate students with the same honor, respect, and joy as his most esteemed University and political colleagues.

Taking Alan's words from a telegram he sent to Yahiko's wife --

"Yahiko Kambayashi was one of the most special people I've ever met. He was a happy and constant force for civilization. One can only adequately thank and remember a person like this by trying to act more like him and to carry forth his best efforts to make the world better."