Lena Kourkoutis Obituary

American engineer, Lena Kourkoutis who was also a professor at Cornell University, has died of colonic cancer at the age of 44. She died on June 24, 2023.

Tributes have been pouring in after her death was announced.

“Her brilliance, humanity, and grace touched faculty, staff, and students in every corner of Cornell, and she left us much too soon. Both professionally and personally, this is a profound loss for the Cornell Engineering community,”  Dean of Engineering at Cornell University, Lynden Archer wrote.

“She took time to meet students one-on-one if they needed extra help. She was there for them. She had a unique combination of high standards and compassion, and she never let any student be forgotten,” Associate Dean for Research and Graduate student at Cornell University, Lois Pollack, also shared.

“Lena was an outstanding citizen of the department and the university. Her all-around excellence truly paced her in a class by herself, and she was deeply loved and admired by her students and faculty colleagues,” Director of Cornell University, Chris Xu. also shared.