By: Mat Ford
Date: December 27, 2007
The Internet Society and the IETF community mourn the loss of Jun-ichiro “Itojun” Hagino, who died on 29 October 2007. He was 37 years old.
Itojun was an active participant in the IETF and a member of the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) from 2003 to 2005. He was a senior researcher at the Internet Initiative Japan (IIJ) and a member of the board of the Widely Integrated Distributed Environment (WIDE) project. Itojun was a strong supporter of open standards development and open software, working as a core researcher from 1998 to 2006 at the KAME project, a joint effort of six companies in Japan to provide a free stack of IPv6, IPsec, and Mobile IPv6 for BSD variants.
Jun-ichiro “Itojun” Hagino, pictured at BSDCan in May 2004
Photo Credit: Diane Bruce, with permission
Itojun will also be remembered as a kind and mild-mannered friend to many, a very helpful cross-cultural bridge, and a knowledgeable international foodie. “He seemed to be at his happiest when programming and when sharing a good meal,” said Randy Bush, a friend and colleague.
In a brief, joint statement, IETF chair Russ Housley and IAB chair Olaf Kolkman recognised the valuable contributions Itojun had made to the IETF – particularly through his work in IPv6-related working groups. “He inspired many and will be missed,” the statement read.