As a non-math major, I struggled to grasp the concepts half of the time, but the language of passion is something I felt in all of his lectures.

Whether Zelmanov is “keeling ze variables” during row reduction, characterizing subspaces as “ze avatar”, or wondering why the class is so obsessed with parallelepipeds, he made the craft sound so enchanting. I found it inspiring how it goes beyond computation, but as a way of life.

Turns out that was the last quarter he taught at UCSD during his 20+ year tenure. It’s both an honor and a bittersweet farewell. Even though he continues to reach new heights, the tokens of his impact stick close to my heart.