Our friend and colleague Rich West passed away unexpectedly on Thursday Feb 24th. It is a devastating loss to not only the research community, but for all of us that were fortunate to call him a friend, mentor, father and husband. Rich was with the University of Delaware for almost 3 years and in this time was able to build our flow cytometry core from just an empty space to a vibrant facility that supported a community of faculty, postdocs, and students. 


He was a superstar scientist, and a superstar human being- he poured his heart and soul into building his flow cytometry lab, but it was his natural ability to build personal relationships with others that really made him such a successful and important part of our community. He had an amazing ability to connect with people and loved sharing his other passions in life, music and family. Working with Rich in his lab space there would always be music playing through computer speakers and many times accompanied by Rich playing along with the bass that he kept at his desk. The connection he made with our community was beyond what we could have imagined. 


Many people have inquired about how they can help support Rich’s family during this time, so we have established this GoFundMe to help his family in this difficult time. All donations will go directly to his family.