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My friend and colleague Jeff @McKnightLab_UO passed away tonight, after a valiant fight against a rare and extremely aggressive lymphoma (HSTCL), diagnosed fewer than six months ago. I want to share a few memories of Jeff, from the short but gratifying time that I knew him.
During one of my visits before I finally moved here to open my lab, Jeff launched into a pitch for a new project that he wanted to collaborate with me on. He said, “you have to hurry up and get here so we can start working on this together!”
He was totally genuine and I could tell he was really excited about the idea. But it was also one of the most welcoming gestures I could have received. Having major imposter syndrome, he made clear to me that I belonged here and had something to contribute.
My office is next door to where Jeff’s was. Labs too. So I would see him a lot. Regardless of how I acted, I always felt behind with work. I wouldn’t visit my lab or colleagues enough. I wouldn’t work at the bench as much as I should. I didn’t sulk. But my head was in the sand.
Jeff would stop by all the time. Sometimes he had an administrative thing to share/consult me on. Sometimes he was eager to share a helpful idea in response to a talk from my lab that had just happened. Often, he had just gotten a really cool result and he wanted to show me.
He had this child-like wonder for science and would get really giddy about new results. He would bring me next door to his computer and show me a new gel, or the latest ChIP-seq peaks he has just plotted. It was really refreshing.
If I didn’t come in for a day or two, when I came back, he would say, “Glad you’re back, I didn’t see you the last couple days, and was hoping you were ok!”
So Jeff would just check on me. I didn’t know how much it meant to me until he got sick, and this pandemic hit, and I couldn’t see him regularly anymore… This one is making me cry…
I just miss him a lot and I was so thankful that he was there to check in on me when it really made my day, week after week. Sometimes it’s hard to ask for help, especially when you are new, and Jeff was just a natural at being there when it mattered.
Jeff was a magnet for grad students. His research was really key to this, but another reason was that he was so supportive and exuded empathy in amounts perhaps rare in academic science.
It’s not easy to start a PhD. Later in one’s career, maybe it seems like peanuts compared to what you face, but that’s only because our memories are terrible. It’s really hard, it always was, for nearly everyone.
This seemed to be at the forefront of Jeff’s mind. He got it, even as a junior Assistant Professor, and found that right gear to help shift his students towards success in the lab.
To sum, Jeff was incredibly warm and welcoming to new people. Checking in on them. Maintaining those connections. Not losing sight of the excitement that comes from the new result. Otherwise, what’s the point?
For students, Jeff was supportive. Showed empathy. Communicated the passion for research, always. Rigor but without being so tough. Thank you, Jeff.
Lastly, just a thing that carries less gravity but that I still loved about Jeff. The first time I met him I knew he wasn’t like any other Professor I’d met. Smart, a lot of fun to talk to, just a really sweet person. But there are others like that.
But he was wearing a black hoodie with bright colorful graphics of cats in space emblazoned all over. He wore this all the time.
Jeff, I love you and miss you a ton already. I know that I can be a better person/mentor if I’m just a little more like you. I won’t steal your cats-in-space-on-the-hoodie look, though. That’s untouchable now. Rest in peace my friend. 
