Michael Cohen (1992-2017)
I first encountered Michael Cohen when, as a freshman newly arrived at MIT, he walked into my office unannounced to ask if I had any open problems for him to solve. My first reaction was bemused annoyance: who does this punk think he is? he’s ready to do theory, but doesn’t even know enough to make an appointment first? also, why doesn’t he shave?
And then, five minutes later, I was practically begging him to do research with me. “OK, so you didn’t like that problem? Wait, I’ve got another one! Hey, where are you going…”
Within those five minutes, it had become obvious that this was a freshman who I could—must—talk to like an advanced grad student or professor. Sadly for quantum computing, Michael ultimately decided to go into classical parts of theoretical computer science, such as low-rank approximation and fast algorithms for geometry and linear-algebra problems. But that didn’t stop him from later taking my graduate course on quantum complexity theory, where he sat in the front and loudly interrupted me every minute, stream-of-consciousness style, so that my “lectures” often turned into dialogues with him. Totally unforgivable—all the more so because his musings were always on point, constantly catching me in errors or unjustified claims (one of which I blogged about previously).
Not once did I ever suspect he did it to show off: he was simply so overtaken by his urge to understand the point at hand, as to be oblivious to all niceties. Yet somehow, that social obliviousness didn’t stop him from accumulating a huge circle of friends. (Well, it was MIT.)
Michael stayed on at MIT as a grad student, racking up an incredible publication list by age 25. This semester, he went to visit the Simons Institute for Theory of Computing in Berkeley.
Three days ago, Michael was found dead in his apartment in Berkeley, after having cancelled a scheduled talk because he was feeling unwell. No cause has been given.
The horrible news came just as I was arriving in Germany for the Heidelberg Laureate Forum, to speak about quantum supremacy. So I barely had time to process the tragedy—yet it was always in the background, especially as I learned that in his brief life, Michael had also touched many of the other computer scientists who I spoke with in Heidelberg, such as Dan Spielman, whose approach to Ramanujan graphs (with Marcus and Srivastava) Michael had made constructive in one of his most celebrated works. Only now is the full weight of what happened bearing down on me.
I understand that memorial events are being planned at both MIT and Berkeley. Feel free to share memories of Michael in the comments; see also Luca’s post and Lance’s post.
This is an unfathomable loss for Michael’s family, for his many friends and colleagues, and for a field that’s been robbed of decades of breakthroughs.
Follow
Comment #1 September 28th, 2017 at 7:49 pm
Thanks for posting this.
Michael was one of my closest friends, even after spending the last 3 years apart from him. I’m still reeling from the news, which arrived to me shortly after I noticed that he hadn’t been online for several days.
I first met him in high school, when we competed for the same spot on the us IOI team. Despite our initial enmity we quickly became friends and he has been a great presence in my life since then.
Michael has always been energetic, funny, supportive, insightful, and all other positive adjectives. This is really a great loss.
Comment #2 September 28th, 2017 at 9:05 pm
Michael and I were undergrads at the same time—he was a senior when I was a freshman, and we lived on the same floor. His exuberance and generosity struck me from the first time I met him. He was a big part of my life at that time, and he’s been a role model for me in the years since. It’s amazing to see how many people he left a mark on, and tragic to think of what the world has lost.
I will always be in awe of Michael. I feel lucky and proud to have known such a brilliant and humble person, and I’ll miss him dearly.
Comment #3 September 29th, 2017 at 4:17 pm
Sébastien Bubeck comments: https://blogs.princeton.edu/imabandit/2017/09/28/michael-b-cohen/
Comment #4 September 29th, 2017 at 11:01 pm
Really saddened by this news. RIP
Big loss for MIT and Harvard
Comment #5 September 30th, 2017 at 8:25 am
Thank you for this wonderful tribute to our son. We knew he was extraordinary but these tributes are making me realize the extent of what we all lost. It is unbearable.
Comment #6 September 30th, 2017 at 12:35 pm
Dear Marie: it’s unbelievably moving to get a comment from you on this blog. I can’t even begin to imagine what you and the rest of Michael’s family are going through right now.
You can feel proud that in his short life, Michael was able to touch so many people in our community, not to mention making a bigger contribution to theoretical computer science than many make in decades. He won’t be forgotten by those who knew him.
We’re all shocked, depressed, and frankly also mystified by what happened. I’d like to know whether there are any steps that we can take, in the TCS community, to prevent something like this from happening again.
In the meantime, thank you again for writing here, and my deepest condolences. If you tell me a cause that Michael cared about, I’ll be more than happy to make a donation in his name, and invite my readers to do the same.
Comment #7 September 30th, 2017 at 5:39 pm
This is a really wonderful post about Michael. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him ever since I heard. He was brilliant, and had as much patience for others as arguing with him required. He seemed to have unlimited energy and patience for explaining things that I didn’t understand, anyone else would have made me feel like a dunce, but not Michael. On the contrary, he would gladly spend hours dissecting ideas to better understand, without bias. One time I was talking to him about my attempts to buy a cabin, and this time he didn’t understand me. I said that I wanted a place to get away from hectic city life, and we spent a long time talking about what that meant. He had no idea why anyone would want to bother doing that, but he wasn’t at all dismissive. He applied the same unlimited attention span to things that others were interested in as well. He was smarter than everyone, but he was also the epitome of a true scholar because of his zeal for knowledge and understanding in every respect.
Comment #8 September 30th, 2017 at 10:36 pm
We also just lost Vladimir Voevodsky:
Vladimir Voevodsky, Fields Medalist, Dies at 51
https://www.ias.edu/news/2017/vladimir-voevodsky
What a crappy year.
Comment #9 October 1st, 2017 at 2:52 am
Dear Marie,
please accept my condolences for your terrible loss.
It is so painful when the life of someone so young and talented suddenly comes to a premature end. I cannot imagine what you are now going through.
Hugs from afar,
Ehud (Yonit’s brother).
Comment #10 October 1st, 2017 at 9:28 am
Vladimir Voevodsky … alas … so very many untimely passings, this year, of true pioneers. 🙁
Comment #11 October 1st, 2017 at 5:22 pm
Hi Scott, do you happen to have any more information about the memorial services?
Comment #12 October 1st, 2017 at 5:30 pm
Shravas #11: I believe that a memorial in Berkeley already happened. One at MIT is being planned. In any case, I’ll leave it to those organizing memorials to post more info here if they want to.
Comment #13 October 2nd, 2017 at 9:28 am
i by no means knew michael well, but he went to my middle and high school and we rode in on the same bus when i was about 11 and he was 14. based on my somewhat hazy memories of those years and the conversations therein, he was the same man right up until the end. rest in peace
Comment #14 October 2nd, 2017 at 10:32 am
If 2016 was the year the music died, 2017 appears to be turning into the year the math died.
Comment #15 October 2nd, 2017 at 12:13 pm
For everyone here who’s grieving over Michael’s loss, I thought I should share a brief update from Daniela Rus, the director of MIT CSAIL.
I wanted to let you know that we have been informed by Michael’s family that Michael died of natural causes, though it will take some time to know exactly what happened. We also hope to share more information about a future plan to commemorate Michael among the wider MIT community.
Comment #16 October 2nd, 2017 at 1:19 pm
This is Tom Cohen, Michael Cohen’s father.
I am writing to thank the numerous people in the theoretical computer science community who have written kind words about Michael on this blog, and in other places. But more generally to thank the community for the support they gave Michael during his, all too short, career. It was clear by the time that he went off to college that Michael, more than anything, wished to become part of that community and to engage in a meaningful way on relevant research in the field. At the time he doubted that he had the talent to do so. (Those who knew him recognize that he had a tendency to undervalue his abilities). The absolute joy he had in research is a consolation to Marie and me.
Michael was in many ways unusual. His over-the-top exuberance, way of doing calculations while walking around muttering, absolute intellectual honesty, loud and fast way of proceeding when he was talking about interesting things as well as various personal quirks involving food, sartorial style and grooming might have made dealing with him difficult. Instead of being put off by this, the community really embraced him and he became completely part of a world that he longed to be part of. In addition to the very large number of people with whom Michael interacted on science but did not actively collaborate on a project, Michael had nearly 30 distinct collaborators on publications at the time of his death; in addition, there were several others with whom he was collaborating when he died that had not yet lead to publications (apparently, it was notoriously difficult to get Michael to finish writing papers). This is extraordinary for a 25-year-old researcher in this field, and shows how deeply connected Michael was with the community.
Scott writes that he was frankly mystified by Michael’s death. While the facts are not entirely known, there is no real mystery, just tragedy. Michael died of “natural causes” according to the Berkeley police, meaning not suicide or homicide. The exact medical cause remains officially unknown, pending the results of various tests by the coroner’s office. But the coroner’s officer who investigated the case said that there are indications that his death may well have been due to an undiagnosed and untreated case of type-1 diabetes. In any case, whatever the underlying cause, we know that he had severe vomiting and diarrhea and that he did not call for help, either from friends or 911. Presumably, he thought he could just tough it out—as young men are wont to do. We will know more at a later date when the test results come in. In truth his death was almost certainly due due to a number of random and unrelated things. Principal among these was he was living alone and there was nobody to call for help when his condition become grave, but there were many others. The random nature of the events leading to his death makes it all the more tragic.
Scott also asked if there was any cause Michael cared about if people wish to make a donation in his memory. If people wish to make a donation in Michael’s memory, a good choice is givedirectly.com . Michael was very interested in the Effective Altruism movement and spoke about it with many people. Givedirectly.org is a charity that he believed exemplified the spirit of that movement. As its name suggests, It gives money directly to very poor people in Africa. There is often reluctance on aid givers’ part to do this, due to a fear that the money will be squandered. Givedirectly rigorous monitors the use of the money it gives and the money is, in fact, being used wisely. Recently, Marie and I communicated with Michael about charitable giving and he recommended Givedirectly.org to us.
Comment #17 October 2nd, 2017 at 2:29 pm
Tom #16: Thank you so much for writing here. As I said to Marie, it’s hard for me to imagine what you’re going through. My deepest condolences to you and to all of Michael’s family.
I’ve made an $1800 donation to Givedirectly in Michael’s memory. I encourage others to donate what they can as well.
If there’s any small lesson to take away here, it sounds like it’s: reach out for help when you need it. Pick up the phone and call. Or better: when in doubt about whether to do so or not—about whether your friends and family will be annoyed to be “burdened” with your health problem, or whatever else it is—think about Michael’s friends and family, about what they would’ve wanted him to do when in need, and see if that makes the choice clearer.
Comment #18 October 2nd, 2017 at 6:51 pm
My heart goes out to the Cohens on the loss of their child. I can not even begin to process this loss or the loss of another one of our children – an MIT 2020 this past Friday. …. The heart feels heavy and the brain becomes numb.. as I silently pray for the two boys gone so suddenly , and for all our children, and for the universe to give the parents who have lost their children the strength to bear it with grace.
Comment #19 October 2nd, 2017 at 7:55 pm
Dear Marie and Tom,
Please accept my deepest condolences. I cannot still believe the news. I saw Michael at MIT after the graduation as he stopped by to say hello to all his Blair classmates.
I was always awed by his genius as Anand shared several interactions and discussion between them
It will take time for all of us to get through this loss especially family and friends. Words cannot describe the tragic loss. I am speechless and heartbroken.
Comment #20 October 3rd, 2017 at 11:32 am
I was a friend of Michael’s in middle and high school though our lives have diverged significantly since. My condolences to Tom and Marie, the rest of his family, and the many friends, colleagues, and acquaintances who will miss him. From your memories it sounds that he really did go on to do the great things that seemed foreshadowed in high school.
I’ve also made a donation in Michael’s memory to GiveDirectly.
Comment #21 October 3rd, 2017 at 11:40 am
Scott –
I happen to live in Cambridge though I’m not associated with MIT. If you hear more about a memorial service at MIT could you share it here? Thank you!
Comment #22 October 3rd, 2017 at 4:50 pm
I am deeply saddened by this tragic event. I didn’t know Michael personally. But Michael’s father, Professor Tom Cohen shared with me (while I was his student at the University of Maryland) — on more than one occasion, Michael’s interest in computer science, his job offer at Facebook, and his enrollment at MIT to pursue a graduate degree. Only a few days ago did I realize how much impact Michael had already made in the theoretical computer science community. I would like to offer my sincere sympathies to Professor Cohen and his family.
Comment #23 October 4th, 2017 at 11:32 pm
I do not know Michael but my heart is broken that we have lost such a talented person
The entire Computer Science community will suffer for generations as a result of his passing
Comment #24 October 6th, 2017 at 3:00 am
I met Michael when he was an intern at facebook, and I just heard the sad news. His impact within the company was just as impressive as his impact on the field of theoretical computer science. He also had an impact on me personally. I will never forget Michael.
Comment #25 October 7th, 2017 at 11:09 pm
[…] on he was working with a great many people in the community. This has been noted in tribute posts by Scott Aaronson, by Sébastien Bubeck, by Luca Trevisan, by former colleagues at Microsoft Research […]
Comment #26 October 9th, 2017 at 11:19 am
[…] I first saw posts about Michael Cohen (see here, here, here) I […]
Comment #27 October 13th, 2017 at 4:44 pm
Thank you professor Aaronson for writing this tribute, and Tom for giving us a clearer picture of what happened.
I was Michael’s roommate during our internship at Facebook about 6 years ago. When I heard the news a few weeks ago, I was taken by surprise and couldn’t digest the information. My deepest condolences to Tom and Marie, and all those who were close to Michael.
You describe him very accurately in the tribute, “overtaken by his urge to understand the point at hand, as to be oblivious to all niceties”. That has always been the true hallmark of a genius, and Michael was no less.
Comment #28 October 19th, 2017 at 10:01 am
Thanks again, to Scott and others who have written such kind words.
I am writing to let people know that a memorial for Michael will be held at MIT, on November 10. In the morning a mini-symposium organized by MIT’s theory group will be held beginning at 9:00. A Memorial Service will be held at 3:00 also at MIT.
Comment #29 March 23rd, 2018 at 2:56 pm
Dear Scott,
I realized that I never got back to you to update you about Michael’s cause of death and what can be done to prevent such deaths in the future. The suspicion of Type 1 Diabetes that the coroner’s office had expressed was confirmed by the blood tests: Michael died of Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA). Since getting the results, I have learned a lot more about DKA, a life-threatening consequence of untreated Type 1 diabetes. I have reached out to organizations that are working to prevent DKA deaths and have shared Michael’s story as widely as possible. One of the organizations is Beyond Type 1, which is working on a campaign to share the warning signs of type 1 diabetes, which include thirst, frequent urination, fatigue and rapid weight loss. It turns out that about 42% of people diagnosed with diabetes are already in DKA when they are diagnosed. We don’t know how many of them actually die, but others may suffer long hospitalizations and long-term damage. A wonderful article about Michael is on Beyond Type 1’s website. I encourage readers to check it out and share it. I hope to work with Beyond Type 1 on increasing awareness of Type 1 and DKA.
I have also reached out to the Barbara Davis Center (BDC) at the University of Colorado, which is a major center of diabetes research. The BDC is conducting a research program, Autoimmunity Screening for Kids (ASK), which involves a test that could have saved Michael. It turns out that the autoimmunity that causes Type 1 Diabetes can be detected through a test long before any symptoms appear. If Michael had this test even as much as 10 years ago at his annual checkup with the pediatrician, we might have known he was a candidate for Type 1 Diabetes. He could have been monitored and we could have all known what to look for. He would have known that he had to get checked if he had any of the DKA symptoms he was having, like vomiting. If we had known about this propensity, we certainly would not have let a weekend go by without reaching him. We would have make sure that someone set eyes on him or we would have called 911. This ASK test is being offered free to all children in Denver. I went to Denver last week to be filmed for a video to encourage families and pediatricians to participate in this program. There are three more years before the research study ends. The researchers hope that their results will show that testing for diabetes autoimmunity is effective and that the experiment can be taken statewide in Colorado. The ultimate goal is universal testing. And that will take political action.
And there is one more thing that readers of your blog can do. If you advise any students, or supervise young adults, don’t let a week go by without setting eyes on them. I have told my husband that if he has not seen or been able to reach an advisee for a week, he needs to go to where they live and set eyes on them. This could have also saved Michael. The last person who talked to him did so on Thursday afternoon. We could not reach him all weekend. His advisor went to his lodging late Monday night. It was too late. Please take this to heart. The only way I can continue living is by working to ensure that no other parents lose their precious children to this terrible disease.
Comment #30 May 10th, 2018 at 11:56 pm
M. is our distant cousin by blood. We are VERY sorry for our loss. Perhaps Yhvh had a greater purpose for others in his brief life and sudden death. Psalm 103.
This is The Word of our Lord; however, it does not make the personal human pain any less painful, but it should considering his youthful legacy.
We love M.
Your witness expands our creative influence in consciousness as co-creators with Hashem.
Peace.
Comment #31 April 14th, 2022 at 2:25 pm
[…] made a difference in his life, the MIT community said in numbers tax, blog posts and articles. With her information campaign about her, Cohen is hoping her death will […]