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Sunday, July 11, 2004
Goodbye, John
Teacher, chef, designer, pioneer, visionary, thinker, and human being extraordinare John Rheinfrank passed away last week. I am sick at heart about it. I was only privileged to be in two classes that John taught at CMU, but they are among the most influential hours I have spent at school. His thoughts on adaptive worlds and what lies beyond user-centered design (a term he hated) changed the way I think about design.I'd signed up for John's seminar in the fall, and I'm selfishly angered that now I won't be able to take it. I envy Haven and Ian, who were able to get his advice on their thesis papers last year. Ian told that in one two-hour meeting, John gave him the inspiration and ideas that are carrying him forward into his PhD work. Damn it, I want my two hours. But alas, I have to settle for the time I had, which was usually inspiring, but often just fun. And the food. God, the food. Even the food at his wake was better than most meals. Others have written moving tributes to John and his work. How John lived and designed made you want to work and design better. If you didn't know John, then I feel worse for you than I do for those of us who did.
posted at 02:56 PM in
faculty
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