It was during the I.P.  project that I really got to know Costa.  Yet through all the work, the long meetings in the library, the heated sessions picking a company, he never let us in on his deepest secret.  It was halfway through the term before we knew that his trips to Boston were for medical reasons, and two-thirds of the way through the term when we first began to to realize his condition might be serious.  Even after his last episode of that first term, though, he insisted on finishing every class.  He even insisted on finishing his work for the I.P., dropping the finance section off at Prof. Greenwald's house.  That's the kind of unbelievable man Costa was.

I was lucky enough to have him in another group my second term.  His trips to Boston seemed more frequent and longer.  But even after a lung operation, he was back on his bike and on campus in a week!  That's why, when Tami called me in Indianapolis this summer and told me Costa wasn't coming back in the fall, I was shocked.  Costa had met and triumphed over every challenge, every obstacle I'd ever seen him face.  But by the same token, I knew I couldn't even fathom the toll the last year had taken.  I wrote him a note telling him how much we loved and supported, telling him what an inspiration he was to me and to so many of us.  I told him I couldn't wait to see him in the second term and how I knew he'd be back stronger than ever.  A month later I broke down as I read Sterling's and Oren's e-mail (informing of Costa's passing on).  How unfair!  How unjust!

But as I entered Uris Hall last week, and as I stand here looking at all of you, I see how Costa has touched each of our lives.  His vision, his upbeat attitude, his smile, his courage, his drive....will be guides I turn to in the coming year and throughout my career.  Looking at all of you here, I know he has touched all of you deeply as well.