It is with great sadness that I write to let you know that Don Witt passed away April 19th after a long battle with cancer. Don received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee under John Friedman. After positions at University of California, Santa Barbara and Syracuse University, he eventually became faculty at the University of British Columbia. He was best known for his discovery that homotopy was not equivalent to isotopy for homeomorphisms of 3-manifolds and for his work on topological censorship. He will be sorely missed by his family and colleagues.
Kristin Schleich