Andrew Reisse Memorial Funds

Posted by Oculus VR

Jun 25, 2013

As some of you know, we tragically and unexpectedly lost Andrew Reisse, one the lead programmers and co-founders of Oculus, on May 30, 2013. We want to thank everyone for their outpouring of love and support in the wake of Andrew’s passing. It means the world to have such an incredible community.

Andrew’s family provided a few words that they asked us to share:

“As the parents and brother of Andrew we would like to express our gratitude for all condolences and expressions of kindness from everyone the world over. The response to the loss of Andrew has been overwhelming. Brendan, Mike, and all the Oculus team have been truly amazing in their support in every possible way; to them we offer our condolences for their terrible loss and assure them that they have our utmost respect, admiration, gratitude, and best wishes for the future as they must continue to move forward.

— Dana, Bob and Ben Reisse”

Since Andrew’s passing, we’ve been working with his family to create two funds to memorialize his impact and legacy: an endowed scholarship at the University of Maryland and a charitable fund with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

Andrew Reisse Memorial Scholarship

We’ve created the “Andrew Reisse Memorial Scholarship in Computer Science” at the University of Maryland, where Andrew studied for undergrad and met Brendan and Mike (the three would later start Scaleform). The scholarship will be awarded each year to a Computer Science student who embodies the same passion for technology and love of nature that Andrew shared with us all.

“This scholarship has been created in memory of Andrew by Oculus VR, Inc. and his parents, Dr. Robert ’70, ’76 and Mrs. Dana Reisse ’73, who met at Maryland while pursuing their graduate studies. Contributions will establish an endowed scholarship to ensure that future Terps are given the same opportunity to change the world as Andrew did.”

We’ve seeded the scholarship endowment with $50,000 from the company. If you’d like to make a donation, you can do so here: http://ter.ps/ReisseFund

The Andrew Reisse Memorial Internship Fund

We’ve also created the “The Andrew Reisse Memorial Internship Fund” with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Andrew was an avid hiker, climber, and true lover of nature — if you take a look at Andrew’s photographs, you’ll see that love captured in his photography — and he often donated to the NRDC’s projects to protect the environment. This memorial fund will continue to support the projects that Andrew believed in:

“Andrew Reisse was a loyal Member of NRDC and a committed environmental activist. From 2005 until his death he gave generously to NRDC and participated in many of our ‘Save BioGems’ online activism campaigns. The NRDC campaigns closest to his heart were those to protect polar bears from big oil’s plans to drill inthe Arctic (Keep Shell Out of the Arctic) and to stop a mega-mine that would destroy a veritable wildlands Eden in Alaska (Stop the Pebble Mine).

Contributions will fund an internship in NRDC’s Montana office, which focuses on protecting wildlife and wild places.”

We’ve seeded the scholarship endowment with $5,000 from the company. If you’d like to make a donation to the NRDC fund in Andrew’s memory, you can do so here:
https://secure.nrdconline.org/site/Donation2?df_id=7380&7380.donation=form1

We’d like to thank everyone again for their support and condolences. You’ve helped us weather an incredibly tough loss and words can’t express our gratitude.

We’ll miss you, Andrew. Thanks for everything.

Sincerely,

— Brendan, Mike and the Oculus team