Dear DGS colleagues and friends:
It is with great sorrow that we share the news of the passing of Larry Brandt on Monday August 1, 2016.
Larry originally established the “Digital Government research program” within NSF while serving as a NSF program director, and he supported many digital government research projects. With his colleague and dear friend at NSF, Valerie Gregg, he was a staunch supporter of advancing the digitization of government agencies, and of improving government agencies through technology, pursuing these goals for more than a decade, starting in the early 2000s.
Larry's efforts led to fostering the interdisciplinary nature of digital government research, guiding the technology researchers to work closely with the social science experts to address not only the technical challenges but also the human issues in government. His support also engendered international collaborations and led to the formation of the Digital Government Society, an international organization of leading researchers in digital government. 
We will cherish his memory and continue to work on realizing his vision to advance Digital Government research and practice. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, his children and his extended family. We want to express our sincere gratitude to Larry for what he has done for our community and we will remember him forever as a trail blazer.The following links show the coverage of Larry's Digital Government program:
- Making a Digital Government, 2002,http://articles.latimes.com/2002/may/20/business/fi-techqa20
- Basic versus Applied Reserach: A challenge for dg.o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLztx5VwIxc
- Melvyn Ciment, A personal history of the NSF digital government program, CACM Vol 46, No 1, Jan 2003.
May his soul Rest in Peace. My sincere condolences to his family.
ReplyDeleteLarry’s professional legacy is a whole field of research that is vibrant and growing world-wide. Twenty years ago, he saw the problems and potential for transforming government with information and technology. During his tenure at NSF he encouraged me and so many others to join together to explore our ideas for problem solving and innovation. Larry was humble, generous, and kind - with a low key sense of humor that made him a wonderful colleague and perfect ambassador on some memorable trips to exotic places. He was an inspiration and true friend to the Digital Government Society and the whole DG research community.
ReplyDeleteA fine man, wonderful mentor, friend, and visionary has left us. The digital government research community has lost a founding father.
ReplyDeleteLarry was an enthusiastic mentor, a passionate supporter of innovative thinking, and a great scientist who made a difference in his field and in the careers of many of us. He will be missed!
ReplyDeleteI am so sad to hear this news! What a pity that two important persons in building up the digital government society and bridged the American and Chinese DG communities, Valerie Gregg and Larry, both passed away too soon to see how the seeds they spread many years ago grow and blossom today. I am also a beneficiary of Larry's great work since I was a PhD student at Albany. I still remember vividly how we travelled together in China exactly ten years ago for the DG conference organized by the US NSF and China NNSF. In that trip, I “saved” him from falling off the Great Wall accidently and Larry recalled it almost every time when he saw me since then. I still kept all pictures taken by Valerie during that trip and I will always remember Larry in my life as his Chinese friend.
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