Four years with Eric in the Bullpen at Pierce hall

My heart is crying. I just found out a few hours ago that Eric passed on, from the Harvard Alumni magazine. Eric was kind, generous with his time and his skills to others, and that broad, wide smile, that lightened up any conversation we had...I never figured out why Eric went on to grads school, I seem to remember him telling me "why not?"...

We spent 4 years together at the 3rd floor bullpen, with desks physically next to each other's...Shared the same advisor, Bernie Budiansky, whose office was just two doors down...That crew...Peter Mataga, Mark Duva, Peter Anderson, Simon Tse, Paul Steif, Sheera Slutsky...with Marion Remillard taking care of all our grad student admin issues...Countless hours over cups of coffee in the faculty lounge room, memorable hours talking about just about everything, Chinese food, the legality of and access to weed, homework in our shared grad courses. The courses with Max Krook and George Carrier, John Hutchinson, Bernie Budiansky, Jim Rice, Howard Emmons, and Fred Abernathy...I remember distinctly Eric's handwriting, deliberate and a bit slanted backwards.

A couple years later, he was the head grad TA for the advanced course on thermodynamics that Jim Rice was teaching...I saved all his handwritten homework solutions, because they were elegant, clear, and minimalist...In our fourth year, both working on our theses, we shared reading and editing each other's chapters...but really he was editing mine because his writing was so good...He adored Patsi, and never stopped talking about her...

I remember Eric so vividly, so fondly, and I will always remember him as long as I live. Rest In Peace dear friend...