Kyril Faenov Tribute
For 12 years preceding his passing, Kyril had been active in the Seattle entrepreneurship community as an angel investor and advisor to various early-stage startups, and as a member of the Alliance of Angels Screening Committee, Social Venture Partners, and the advisory board of the UW Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences. The Kyril Faenov Endowed Scholarship is a lasting tribute to this remarkable person.
Outdoor sports also were a passion
Kyril was an accomplished competitive swimmer. As a teenager in Moscow, Russia, he trained with the Olympic Reserve swim team. During his college years in the United States, he captained the swim team at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) His time of 27.83 in the 50 meter breaststroke, established in 1993, still stood as an RIT record nearly 20 years later!
Kyril also enjoyed kayaking, mountaineering, scuba diving, sky diving, and more, as shown in the gallery below.
Swimming
Sky Diving
Mountaineering
Scuba Diving
Mountaineering
Kayaking
RIT Saluting the Seniors
RIT 2011-2012 Media Guide
Recognition
In his honor, Microsoft’s entry in the 2012 “Top500” HPC competition, an Azure cloud supercomputer, was named the “Faenov Cluster.” Quoting from a press article at the time, “Microsoft morphs HPC efforts into ‘Big Compute’”:
Microsoft also set up a virtual cluster and ran the Linpack test on it again. It is called Faenov, in homage to Kyril Faenov, who used to lead Microsoft’s HPC efforts before he died in May 2012.
Microsoft posted a wonderful interview with Kyril in 2010 as part of the “Modeling the World” initiative of the Technical Computing Group in which his personality and capability shine through.
Tributes from friends
On May 25th 2012, the world lost a wonderful human being. His brilliant mind and big heart are legacies he left behind. They will live forever in the hearts and minds of everyone who knew him.
38 years of soaring and striving for the stars.
On Wednesday, I did something that only a few days prior would have seemed unimaginable: I attended the funeral of my dear friend, colleague, mentor and manager, Kyril Faenov. At only 38, he was six years my junior. As anyone who knew Kyril can attest, he was extraordinary in so many ways: his brilliant and curious mind; his boundless and infectious energy; his childlike enthusiasm; his disarming charm, charisma and good looks; his relentless drive to do great things in order to change the world for the better; and, most striking to me, his infinite capacity to care for, protect, honor and appreciate those around him. My deep sorry in losing Kyril is rivaled only by my deep gratitude for having had the opportunity to know him and to work closely with him. I cannot thank you enough, Kyril, for your kindness toward me for the example you set and for the legacy you defined. I miss you, and I honor your memory. – Jonathan Smith
Kyril has been hands down the best human being I have had the honor of knowing. I was lucky to have shared so many philosophical discussions with him and followed him on some of the experiences he went through on his metaphysical journey. My heart broke at the news! Such a bright light is a beacon for others and is such a huge loss. I will certainly never forget him and will forever miss his gentle and loving spirit. I pray for him to find peace wherever he is and for God to bless his family and the little ones. – Sheena Chandra
Kyril, thanks for being a great friend and mentor. You were an inspiration to all whose lives you touched. Your smile, your kindness, your optimism, your positive energy, your leadership are truly irreplaceable and will be greatly missed. Rest in peace. – Salim Alam
I am deeply shaken and saddened to have read of his passing. I will miss him dearly. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. The message so deeply disturbed me that I needed two days to formulate some word. Can words ever describe the kindness, inspiration, leadership, and human warmness Kyril gave all of us? He was a leader from the heart. I never have meet a more gentle person than Kyril in my whole live! My live long I will remember you smile and always happy face. My life got richer in having known you. I hope you find the peace. – Wolfgang Dryer
You may also enjoy reading an extended tribute by Audrey Sniezek featuring comments from friends. ↗