It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Dr. Ramanathan Sugumaran (Sugu). Dr. Sugumaran passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday, January 25th 2017 at his home. Sugu joined the Department of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences in the fall of 2012 as a Professor, and left to assume a position at John Deere in 2013. He was a highly respected and productive researcher in the areas of remote sensing, spatial decision support, and geospatial data analytics. He was a mentor to students and great colleague. While at UI only a short time, he had an important and lasting impact on our department. The department extends its sincerest condolences to his family. His obituary can be found here.