We are heartbroken to share our former lab member, Dr. Kurtis Haut, passed away unexpectedly on June 27 at the age of 30.

Kurt was one of our own. He completed his bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD degrees at the University of Rochester, earning undergraduate degrees in Computer Science and Business before continuing his graduate studies in Computer Science. We had the privilege of knowing him for nearly a decade, beginning when he first took a class with Professor Ehsan Hoque.

As a student, Kurt always sat in the front row. He was curious, engaged, and eager to participate. Whenever a question was posed, he was often the first to raise his hand. His thoughtful nature and warm personality made him stand out from the beginning.

When Kurt learned that our lab was conducting research related to Parkinson’s disease, he volunteered to help without expecting anything in return. The work was deeply personal to him because his grandfather had lived with Parkinson’s disease. His generosity, sincerity, and commitment eventually led us to welcome him into the lab as a research assistant.

Kurt worked with the ROC HCI Lab for two years before entering the PhD program. He completed his PhD in Computer Science in 2025 as a Department of Defense SMART Scholar and was preparing to join the U.S. Army DEVCOM Soldier Center’s Simulation and Training Technology Center as a computer scientist.

During his time with the lab, Kurt contributed to research spanning virtual patients for clinical communication training, assistive technology for people with Parkinson’s disease, responsible artificial intelligence, demographic bias, credibility assessment, and multimodal human behavior analysis. He was also part of the team that earned first place in the IARPA Credibility Assessment Standardized Evaluation Challenge.

Kurt had a special ability to bring people together. He understood how to build teams, engage collaborators, and involve the right people to move meaningful work forward. He was also exceptionally skilled at connecting with research participants. Anyone who has conducted human-subject research understands how difficult recruitment and engagement can be. Kurt made it look easy because people trusted him and felt comfortable in his presence.

His talents and interests extended far beyond research. Kurt was a former University of Rochester quarterback and had earned first-team All-State, first-team All-Greater Rochester, and Section V Offensive Player of the Year honors before an injury ended his football career. He was also a musician who released two albums, Angels Surround Me and Walking with Christ. His faith was deeply important to him and shaped his commitment to compassion, forgiveness, service, and treating people from every background with dignity and love.

Those who knew Kurt will remember his wide smile, his warm handshake, and the sincere way he always asked how others were doing. His friendliness was not performative. It was simply who he was.

Over the years, it was a privilege for us to watch Kurt grow, not only as a scholar and researcher, but also as a person learning to navigate the complexities of life. He came from a small community and gradually found his place in a much larger academic and professional world. We will always remember that journey, and the person he became, with great affection and pride.

It is difficult to accept that Kurt left this world so prematurely. He had so much more to contribute, both professionally and personally. Yet his influence will endure through the people he supported, the teams he brought together, and the research he helped advance. His work remains an important foundation for projects that continue in our lab today.

Kurt will be deeply missed by all of us at the ROC HCI Lab and by the broader University of Rochester community.

So long, our friend. You will be deeply missed.