Rajeev Motwani, Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page advisor and professor has died

Professor Rajeev Motwani has died

Rajeev Motwani, Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page advisor and professor has died. Rajeev Motwani is also a Stanford professor of computer science who was widely praised for his investing acumen, having backed both Google and PayPal. Motwani will be remembered for his genuine passion for teaching and technology.

Rajeev Motwani founded the Mining Data at Stanford project (MIDAS), an umbrella organization for several groups looking into new and innovative data management concepts before his involvement with Google. As an academicprofessor, Rajeev was also very interested in data privacy, web search, robotics, computational drug design and theoretical computer science. He co-authored a book titled Randomized Algorithms, as well as a textbook, and produced numerous technology patents.

For his work, he received a long list of awards, including the prestigious Godel Prize, the Okawa Foundation Research Award and the Arthur Sloan Research Fellowship. He was still teaching classes as recently as last quarter.

Rajeev Motwani was a nurturing force for many startups, according to close friend and GigaOm editor Om Malik. As an investor and advisor, he sat on the boards of Google, Kaboodle, Mimosa Systems, Adchemy, Baynote, Vuclip and Stanford Student Enterprises, among many others. He was also active in the Business Association of Stanford Engineering Students (BASES).

Originally from New Delhi, Motwani earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science from IIT Kanpur in 1983, and his doctorate from UC Berkeley in 1988. He arrived at Stanford shortly thereafter. As a pillar of the Silicon Valley and Bay Area academic communities, he will be dearly missed.

In his farewell post, Malik writes, “I am sure I am not the only one who has benefited from Motwani’s generosity of time and knowledge and his ability to create connections and help others.”

VentureBeat would like to echo his condolences and warm wishes for Motwani’s family.

It’s a sad day to all the people toughed by Rajeev Motwani. He is a great loss to the modern world’s technology. RIP Rajeev Motwani!

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