Vladimir (Volodya) Balakirsky passed away August 5 at the age of 55. Volodya was a specialist in information theory with a strong mathematical and analytical background. His major contributions were on coding and the implementation of algorithms. He was an enthusiastic researcher, and an open and friendly person with a good sense of humor. He was a guest scientist at many European Universities, including Bielefeld, Lund,Eindhoven, and Essen. 

He is survived by his wife Anahit and his two sons Mischa and Arkadi.