[sustran] Re: Brian Williams

[Pendakur]

I am enormously sorry to hear this news: great guy, always cheerful and
willing to help.  He sounded happy at UNCHS and our common ground and work
were always productive and enormously pleasant.  I will miss his
thoughtfulness and steady continuity of friendship and warmth.

Do any of you have his home address or shall we just write to his family c/o
UNCHS?

Thanks for the info.

Best wishes; Setty 
Dr. V. Setty Pendakur
Professor Emeritus, University of British Columbia 
Honorary Professor, China National Academy of Sciences; 
Director, ITDP (NY) & Secretary, ABE90-TRB
Senior Counselor, State Council of the PRC
President, Pacific Policy and Planning Associates
702-1099 Marinaside Crescent, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6Z2Z3
T: 604-263-3576; 1-604-374-3575-Mob

-----Original Message-----
From: sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca at list.jca.apc.org
[mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca at list.jca.apc.org
] On Behalf Of Walter Hook
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 8:08 PM
To: Paul Barter
Cc: Elliott Sclar; sustran-discuss at jca.apc.org; mbareck diop;
asteria_mlambo at yahoo.com
Subject: [sustran] Brian Williams

A few words about Brian, since it was really brian meeting up with anwar
fazal and paul barter that started sustran back in the day.  Paul must know
better than I do. I just sent him off to asia with nothing more than a
airplane ticket and a few contacts, and he got some things going.   he'd
done time in the Philippines for peace corps, so he knew his way around Asia
pretty well.  in those early days when i took over itdp after it nearly
collapsed in the early 1990s, it was just brian, me, karen overton, and ney
oliveira, running the place part time while we worked on our PhDs at
Columbia.  we were just barely keeping the lights on in those days. then he
organized the habitat ii transport events in Istanbul, which got transport
back on the habitat agenda.  even in the mid 1990s not too many people
thought motorization in Asia was anything to worry about...Later, brian
tried to kick start sustran africa and organized a great meeting a few years
back in Nairobi.  Didnt make it through the GEF process until it changed and
changed again and just recently got passed.  He also labored under some less
constructive bosses until recently, so things were really looking up.  When
I met his kids in Nairobi, i really liked them, and his wife.  his good
experience with adoption inspired me to adopt also, and its also worked out
great.  I sure feel bad for his wife and kids.  Brian will be missed.

On Mon, Oct 5, 2009 at 7:59 PM, Paul Barter <paulbarter at nus.edu.sg> wrote:

>  Many on sustran-discuss know Brian. I am sorry I have to pass on sad
> news. Brian worked on sustainable transport issues, working for UN Habitat
> in Nairobi and was an early and important member of ITDP.
> Paul
>
> ------ Forwarded Message
> From: Niklas Sieber
> Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2009 11:49:26 +0200
> To: TTI Mail Server
> Conversation: Transport Training Initiative Brian Williams
> Subject: Transport Training Initiative Brian Williams
>
> Dear TTi members
>
> I just received a sad message this morning. Our TTi member Brian Williams
> has died last weekend from a heart attack while jogging in Nairobi.
>
> I learned to know Brian as a very pleasant person who cared a lot about
> other people, social injustice, poverty and environment. His death is a
> huge
> loss for the transport sector in the developing world.
>
> Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and his two children.
> Niklas
>
> ______________________
>
> Dr. Niklas Sieber
> Heidestrasse 47
> 70469 Stuttgart
> Germany
> Office   + 49 711 / 806 3269
> Mobile   + 49 178 / 723 3548
> Fax:     + 49 711 / 806 7426
> www.niklas-sieber.de <http://www.niklas-sieber.de/>
> www.transport-training-initiative.org
> <http://www.transport-training-initiative.org/>
>
>
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SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred,
equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries
(the 'Global South').