We Lost One of F@H's Greatest Champions - Gordon Smitheman
Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 9:05 am
Original Thread at Maximum PC folding forumSwingOp3 wrote:I am so sorry to report that one of F@H's greatest Champions, Gordon Smitheman, has passed away.
Gordon's Obituary
Rose's Obituary
(TL/DR version at the bottom of the post):
We at MaximumPC are still mourning the losses of our teammate, Gordon Smitheman (d. Jan. 25, 2012), and his wife, Rose (d. Nov. 27, 2011.)
For those who did not know him, Gordon spent countless hours drumming up enthusiasm about folding.
He did so not only in our forum, but also visiting other teams to congratulate them on their achievements.
The folding he encouraged out of others far exceeded that which he was capable of himself.
Our representative on the Donor Advisory Board, Michael McCord MD, has proposed a memorial
to Gordon and Rose as Global Ambassadors of the F@H project.
Dr. Vijay Pande has given his full approval.
This memorial is a fund established to purchase a server for Stanford University's Folding@home project.
Donations from US taxpayers will be tax deductible, since Stanford is a 501c3 non-profit organization.
The server, which will have an address similar to gordonandrosesmitheman.stanford.edu, will assign WUs to donors.
We believe Gordon would be pleased we are paying tribute to him with something that benefits all folders.
This is a means for our team to pay respect to someone who gave so much of his self to our team and folding.
We are not asking anyone from other teams to donate, but merely extending the opportunity to those that wish to.
This is ENTIRELY voluntary.
According to Dr. Pande:
Generally, [servers cost] about $10K, but I'm happy to pitch in funds here to bring us
up to that level in case it doesn't get there. The generosity and meaning of
this is important to me too.
Dr. Pande provided details on how to donate to this fund:
If anyone has further questions, they may contact Dr. McCord at MaximumPCAs with all donations to FAH, here are a few reminders:
1) They must go through Stanford (please do not send me personal checks, etc).
For credit cards, one could go to this link
https://pgnet.stanford.edu/give/home?mo ... &olc=10266
2) Please designate that this is for the "Folding@Home Computing Project Gift Fund".
If one uses the link above, that should happen automatically (but it never hurts to be clear).
3) If one does the above, the gift should be tax deductible (at least in the US),
since Stanford is a 501c3 non-profit.
Here is the Q+A for giving to Stanford:
http://giving.stanford.edu/get/layout/g ... owCanIGive
REMEMBER to put "Folding@Home Computing Project Gift Fund" on the memo line
or note it online if giving by credit card.
http://www.maximumpc.com/forums/memberl ... le&u=26849
or Dr. Pande at Stanford University. Please be aware Dr. Pande is dealing with
a family illness at this time and the preference would be to contact Dr. McCord.
TL/DR Version
What: Memorial fund in Gordon & Rose Smitheman's name to purchase a server for Stanford University
Participation: ENTIRELY voluntary
Benefit for you: Tax deductible donation to non-profit organization
Benefit for folding: Another server to assign WUs to F@H donors
Donate by check: Send to Stanford University with "Folding@Home Computing Project Gift Fund" on the memo line
Donate by credit card: https://pgnet.stanford.edu/give/home?mo ... &olc=10266
Stanford Donation FAQ: http://giving.stanford.edu/get/layout/g ... owCanIGive
