Lee Dirks, along with his wife Judy Lew and their Peruvian driver, were tragically killed August 28th while on vacation in Peru. The local media reports that the SUV they were riding in went off a highway and into a ravine while on their way to visit some pre-Columbian ruins in Calca, a province in Cuzco region.

Dirks, who served on various iSchool boards, was the Director for Portfolio Strategy in Microsoft Research Connections, the team within Microsoft Research responsible for working closely with academia and research organizations to help solve some of the world's most challenging scientific and social problems via collaborative research projects. He also served on the advisory board for the University of Washington Libraries and the Digital Futures Alliance.

"Lee was a great friend and supporter of our school and of the iSchool movement worldwide," said Harry Bruce, dean of the UW Information School. "He served as an advisor on UW iSchool boards, taught classes in the school and coauthored papers with our faculty. He was a generous donor to the school and a very close friend to many in our community."

Dirks earned an M.L.S. degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill as well as a post-master's degree in Preservation Administration from Columbia University.

Dirks and his wife are survived by their two young children.