Mike Rust

I taught a week's worth of lectures of a Systems Biology course that Austin was taking this Spring. Although this gave me relatively few chances to interact with him, he made a huge impression on me. The class size was very small, and Austin seemed to act as a kind of glue during the discussions:  when one person was confused, he often seemed to understand both the material itself and where the confusion was coming from.  Austin would often produce an insightful comment at these points that would move the class forward. He was a brilliant student with a real enthusiasm for learning who will be missed.