Sergio and Leyma De Haro

Sergio and I have known Laurie since we were first-year graduate students at UNM in 2004. Immediately, she became our mentor and guide, and I asked her later to be in my dissertation committee. Through the years of interacting with her, we occasionally heard stories about both her children while they were growing up, mostly funny things they did. I looked up to Laurie because she was an example of a great scientist, who clearly was also a great mom and had managed her career and her personal life. Then, in the summer of 2011, I had the opportunity to meet and work with Austin in Dr. Karlett Parra’s lab, while I was a postdoc and he was a summer student. It was after his first year at U. of Chicago. The whole summer, I was impressed with Austin’s intellect, quick hands, and creativity in the lab. I loved his nerdy T-shirts, which inspired me to wear mine as well. While he was at the lab, we had long talks about his major and I strongly encouraged him to study biochemistry (although I thought he was going to pursue math or physics). A funny thing happened the day of the undergraduate student symposium at the end of the summer, that’s when I realized that he was Laurie’s son! She looked so proud of him that day, and they looked so much alike. The whole summer Austin never bragged about being his mother’s son. That was a humble quality about him. He gained his lab mates’ respect on his own merits as a brilliant “budding” scientist (he thought it was funny when I called him that because we worked with budding yeast). At the end of the summer I remember thinking that Austin will one day win a Nobel prize (no question in my mind).

We followed the news of his disappearance and then finally the sad ending to this brilliant young man’s life. The scientific community has lost the talent that would surely have solved some of humanities’ greatest problems. Laurie, we are so sorry for you and your family’s loss. You have been such a beacon of light in our lives, guiding us when we needed your help. We hope you and everyone who loved Austin will find comfort in the memories of such a wonderful human being, knowing that his time here was meaningful, and he touched our lives.

Our thoughts are with you,
Sergio and Leyma De Haro