With deep sorrow, we announce the demise of our Board Member and 1st Vice Chair, Professor Abdourahamane Konaré, who passed away in the early hours of Thursday, 26th October 2017 after a long and gallant battle against the illness that eventually took him away from us. A good heart has stopped beating; a gentle soul is gone.
Until his untimely death, Professor Konaré served our noble organization with uncommon diligence and complete dedication. He was a founding member of the Task Force that was commissioned to bring about WASCAL and was a member of the inaugural Governing Board representing the Government of Côte d’Ivoire. His tenure was renewed after 3 years of great service to WASCAL and he was elected 1st Vice Chairman of the current Board in 2015.
We have lost one of the few true giants in the African community of climate scientists. We are, however, thankful that Professor Konaré leaves a legacy of scholarly contributions that will outlive him and continue to enrich the careers of the next generation of climate scientists in our region through his relentless and ultimately successful effort to bring High Performance Computing (HPC) capability to West Africa. Sadly, he will not be here with us to witness the official opening of the new HPC Center in Abidjan by His Excellency, Alassane Ouattara, President of Côte d’Ivoire scheduled for 4th December 2017. The official opening of this facility is intended to kick off the 2017 WASCAL Week, which, again thanks to Professor Konaré, we are co-organizing with the Government of Côte d’Ivoire.
On behalf of the Governing Board, our sponsor BMBF, and the Executive Management, we extend our deepest condolences to the family that he left behind, all his friends and colleagues from Côte d’Ivoire and entire WASCAL family. Prof Konaré’s untimely departure leaves us in grief and heartbroken. He will forever remain in our hearts.
Rest in Peace, Prof Abdourahamane Konaré, our Board 1st Vice Chair, our colleague, our friend, our mentor and our hero.