ACM mourns the passing of ACM Fellow Guang R. Gao. He was a distinguished computer scientist, dedicated educator, and active ACM volunteer. He inspired many students --graduated over 30 PhD students and mentored over 25 postdoctoral fellows. His passing is a loss to the computer science community and he will be sorely missed.
ACM President
Gabriele Kotsis
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清华老同学沉痛悼念高光荣教授逝世
高光荣同学是1963年以高分从武汉考入清华大学无线电电子学系的。他的俄语考了99分，是全校的最高分。入学后分在俄文提高班。高光荣是清华最为聪慧的学生之一，学习又极为认真努力，各科学习成绩都名列前茅。高光荣待人热情，性格开朗，又极具幽默感，在同学中是人人喜爱的中心人物，我们真诚的好朋友。
但是不幸在荒唐的文革期间，首都工人毛泽东思想宣传队进驻清华大学，强行以工人阶级领导一切，对全校师生员工实行恐怖的统治。高光荣在受命念大字报的时候出现了口误，把『打倒了老爷，又来了少爷』念成『打倒了主席，又来了少爷』，当场被工宣队抓住，打成现行反革命。高光荣在全系大会上受到批判斗争，和被打倒的系主任李传信先生一起住牛棚。后来高光荣被分配到黑龙江省的勃利县，在冰天雪地里苦苦煎熬。
一直到打倒四人帮，迎来了改革开放的日子，高光荣才考上了华中工学院的研究生，有幸在朱九思先生门下学习。朱先生是思想开放的教育家，在朱先生的举荐和帮助下，高光荣得以到美国麻省理工学院深造。在自由民主的国度，高光荣的才华终于能夠灿烂地绽放了。
高光荣是中国大陆第一位获得麻省理工学院计算机博士学位的学者，他是数据流架构领域研究的奠基者和开拓者，他毕生致力于该领域的研究，并且创办公司，推动研究成果的转化。高光荣2017年获得罗摩克里希纳·劳奖，是中国大陆第一位获得该奖项的科学家。高光荣成为全球著名的计算机科学家，美国特拉华大学终身教授，ACM fellow和IEEE Fellow，让我们清华老同学感慨万端。
在此向高光荣老同学告别的时刻，我们祝愿高光荣同学一路走好，从自由民主的国度，飞向圣洁光荣的天堂！
清华大学无9年级同学 林海 程惟康 林家义 夏尧邦 盛祖谦 丁绍民 周启博 王建光 黃金生 王皖贞 王世明 王晓光 王鹤伦 秦文林 金时筠 陈华渝 毛乙长 梁金安 郑志鸿 韩家明 庄寿涵 刘月芳 金泽渊 陈国雄 叶婉丽
2021年9月23日
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2012, The Westin Bellevue, Bellevue Way Northeast, Bellevue, WA, USA
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1991, McGill University - Montreal, QC, Canada
His office, Feb. 1991
— with
Prof. Gao
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2015, University of Delaware
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2015, University of Delaware
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GAO means "superior quality" in mandarin. Well, Prof Guang Gao is indeed of superior quality and it is hard to come close to his superior quality. His superior quality can been seen across three dimensions:
Generosity not only to his students but also to everyone around him, which we lovingly call as Gao Circle.
Accomplished scientist and teacher where he has created a new generations of little Gaos who continue his legacy and style. Some of his students and postdocs have created companies generating over a billion dollar revenue, distinguished professors, distinguished scientists and engineers, and software/hardware engineers
Originality in thinking that led to 100's scientific articles, Ph.D. theses, and distinguished lectures.
There is only one person who has more superior quality than him, and we all know who that person is. Without that person providing the foundations and support on a daily basis, both during good times and during bad times, Prof. Gao would not be GAO (Generous, Accomplished and Original).
Prof. Gao even now thinks I am still his student and assigns me research problems. I had a zoom call with him and his students few weeks back and he was inspiring his students to work on original ideas. His blessing and inspiration will live for generations propagated by his students and postdocs. There is no one more superior than Gao and his beloved wife. After spending 31 years with him, I lost a father again rather than an advisor.
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2000, Washington D.C., DC, USA
Gao and UD Research Team at Celera - Home of the Human Genome
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I had the pleasure of sharing an office with Prof. Gao when he first arrived at MIT. It was clear at that time that he had been successful and that he would continue to have great success. More importantly he was a true gentleman. He always treated me well and with friendship.
I got to hear many stories from Prof. Gao. But I certainly have no real understanding of all the things that he had seen. Based on his experiences he had a much deeper understanding of human nature than most. However we all can understand a couple universal truths that were important to him. The key to success is hard work. Prof. Gao worked hard for his success. The greatest joy is family. For Prof. Gao that was Peggy and Nicholas.
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1989, ACM ICS 1989 Crete, Greece
Prof. Gao in ACM ICS 1989 Banquet, Crete Greece
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Professor Guang Gao’s impact on the scientific community didn’t end with his passing away on September 12. I was very fortunate to have Gao as my mentor and be his across-door colleague in UD for around 10 years. Gao was a role model to me. I still remember the day when I came to UD for interview and met him in the Courtyard Hotel, when he welcomed me warmly. I also remember the first time when I joined his paper-review group meeting, and how surprised I was when I saw that his students are so active debating ideas in papers. I immediately told myself: this is the type of students I want, and I need to ask Gao about his method for recruiting students. At UD, we worked closely on various projects and co-advised several students. He showed strong passion in two topics: one is dataflow and Codelet execution model, while the other is Chinese history. I vividly remember our conversations on both topics -- we were both very interested in history and have read many books about it. He also gave me a lot of good advice like a true mentor, not only about work but also about life. I will never forget the impact he had on my career as faculty and person. A few years ago, on his 70th year birthday celebration event, he was surrounded by many of his students who learned from his teachings. And this is how I will remember him, smiling and surrounded by students, and life friends.
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I am quite shocked to hear the sudden demise of Prof. Gao! Even when I spoke to him on Zoom a couple of months ago, he was upbeat about completing his dataflow book, scheduling the next dataflow workshop in Japan, possible travel plans, etc. He was so full of energy and enthusiasm that day, it is hard to believe that he is no more!
After my graduation, I had a very difficult time trying to get post-doctoral positions; it was Prof. Gao, who trusted my bio-data more than anything else and gave me an opportunity to work with him. Throughout my 4 years stay at McGill and also subsequently in my interactions with him, I have learnt so many things from Prof. Gao. His passion for research, enthusiasm, and positive thinking are so contagious and inspired us to work hard. Beyond the academics, Prof. Gao has taught me how to be patient and affectionate with students. Prof . Gao and Mrs. Gao both taught us to treat the students as our family. It goes without saying, I owe a great deal to Prof. Gao for what I am today.
I see similar sentiments being expressed by everyone in the GaoCircule google group. To us, Prof. Gao is a simple, genuinely kind, hardworking, brilliant researcher, with a child-like enthusiasm. He has been and will be a terrific role model! All of Prof. Gao's students will very dearly miss him and his enthusiasm. He has left behind a great legacy which is for us to take forward.
Bhama and I are grateful to Prof.Gao and Mrs. Gao for all the love and affection that they have shown on us and our family. We are still trying to come to terms with the news. Our sincere condolences to Mrs. Gao, Nick and their family and we pray God to give them the strength to bear this loss.
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2015, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
Honouring Prof. Gao with Shawl & momento
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2015, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
Honouring Prof. Gao with Shawl & momento
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