During the summer of 1992, I had the good fortune to work as an intern at the USAID mission in Rabat, Morocco. As the Deputy Mission Director in Rabat, Jim coordinated the internship program. Jim felt that it was important to provide graduate students with an interest in development the opportunity to gain practical experience in the field during their studies. I remember meeting Jim for the first time in his office at the mission. Following his warm greeting, we discussed Morocco and USAID's programs in the country. I remember being particularly impressed the quantity of computer-related magazines distributed about his office. So much so that when I joined the Leland Initiative team years later, I was not at all surprised to find Jim playing a central role in connecting Africa to the Internet. Though having worked with Leland for only a few months now, I have already witnessed many tangible signs of Jim's significant impact in Africa. I have also seen the enormous respect and appreciation Jim has earned from those he has encountered.
Brian Bacon, Academy for Educational Development

A truly sad news. Our condolences to the immediate family and the larger family as well. Its a big loss to Internauts on the continent. He will be well remembered for his tireless efforts to get Africa adequately connected.
Nii Quaynor, Network Computer Systems, Ghana

Just a couple of months ago I was speaking to Jim's daughter Sonya, about how creative, energetic and active her father was. She commented that he was always upbeat, and never let set-backs get him down for more than a moment. He'd just jump back in for another try. Jim was a good role model, and such a positive force for so many of us. He will truly be missed.
Barbara Keating, Computer Frontiers

Jim was one of very few genuine heroes it has been my grace and honor to know. Working with him - sharing his enthusiasm, inspiration, sense of mission, and, well, Love - invigorated by my natural optimism as much as any experience I ever had in a life that has been unusually rich in inspiration. Traveling in Africa with Jim, I found him brave to the verge of madness. His sense of the possible seemed to have no boundaries. The word "Yes!" left his lips with extraordinary credibility and sinew.
John Perry Barlow, Electronic Frontier Foundation

He was such an inspiration to me. He has been such an asset to the Ghana Program. He was always ready to help you out, you just had to send him an E-mail on any issue and within seconds he will send you the response.
Avril Kudzi, Leland Ghana Coordinator

We have just lost our Chief Orchestra! NOC in Madagascar has heard this terrible news like flash breaking the heart. Jim Lowenthal was our first Chief and gold instrument. We all in Madagascar transmit our "Sincere condolence." We all share the great burden of trouble with his family, Leland Initiative, and the US of America. May his soul rest in peace.
Zo Andry Ralison, Telecom Malagasy

Jim's contribution to the Africa Gateway project has been immense across the continent. Indeed, those of us in West Africa striving to promote the widespread use of Internet Technologies in the region have lost a great friend and colleague.
Ato Wilson, Ghanaian IT Consultant

Nous avons appris avec tristesse et consternation la disparition de Jim Lowenthal. Nous avons apprécié son enthousiasme, son dévouement, sa compétence et sa capacité de communication.
Mme CISSE Mariam K. SIDIBE, Secrétaire Exécutif du CILSS, Burkina Faso

I find it hard to think of the Leland Initiative without thinking of him running everywhere from Timbuctou to 'Tana at a moments notice to save the day.
John Mack, WorldSpace

Terribly shocking to hear of Jim's untimely death. Jim was a wonderful leader and individual to work with, so full of energy and vision, and so willing to share his expertise for the good of all.
Tony Villasenor, Equifax

Jim Lowenthal was a wonderful team leader and he worked tirelessly to make the Leland Initiative a reality in Africa. He didn't spare any efforts to help Madagascar to overcome the problems that all of us were facing, especially during the time when we just started from scratch... He spent time with each newly selected ISP to share MTDS' experience and to see if he could be of any help. The Leland Initiative in Madagascar just lost its best support and resource person.
Roland Ramamonjisoa, Leland Madagascar Coordinator
Jim was a true professional whose enthusiasm affected all he met. He will be remembered, with affection, as a champion of connectivity in Africa... We have all lost a fine friend and colleague.
David Flavell, USAID Haiti

Jim was the energy and the intellect that drove the introduction of Internet to Rwanda through the Leland Initiative. For Rwanda, leery of the media and unfettered popular access to information after the genocide of 1994, this was a difficult journey, spanning many more turbulent months than anyone, including Jim, would have imagined when we began. Jim stayed with us, encouraged us, and "kept the faith" in opening the world to Rwanda through Internet. Not long ago, our Rwandan partners arrived at the U.S. Embassy to install one of the first Internet access stations, and Internet has been flowering since - an invisible but monumental testimony to Jim's legacy of service across Africa.
George E. Lewis, Director, USAID Rwanda

This is a great lost for all of us and it will be hard to replace such an active and positive actor.
Jacqueline Ahouansou, USAID Benin

Jim was a pioneer in many ways... The world has lost a true servant.
Steven Dorsey, Learnlink Project

I first met Jim, Heidi and the 18-month-old Yuri in the summer of 1972 in Yaounde, Cameroon. Jim was one of the organizers of an innovative series of seminars for French-speaking Africans on the practical principles of project management. Jim was still a graduate school at Vanderbilt, and his work that summer presaged his future of dynamic and energetic engagement in Africa. The seminars he helped run in Cameroon became models for similar endeavors in other countries in the following years. The Lowenthals stayed in Yaounde the whole summer, and I established a permanent bond with them, despite the flow of years that could go by without our being in touch. This is one of the characteristics of Jim and Heidi that we all remember so well. Just one meeting with them sealed a friendship that has perdured all these years. He struck so many people, and so memorably, that I am sure the messages in his tribute will ring the same themes: high-energy, affability personified, approachable, fully engaged, always willing to take on new risks to contribute to a better world. You couldn't know Jim without being drawn into his orbit and enjoy being pulled along by his energy.
Glenn Slocum, former USAID Division Chief

The Internet is a unique organism. Those who try to transplant it to new environments face difficult and unexpected challenges. Jim brought an understanding of the issues, dedication, energy, and an astonishing way with people. Not only was the message of an information-rich Africa too compelling to ignore, but the good-natured messenger was too obviously genuine to dismiss. Even skeptics kept their doors open, and his enthusiasm was contagious. Many of us will continue Jim's work, but no one can replace him.
Jon Peha, AAAS to USAID