People I Am A Huge Fan Of At The Moment

I tend to do a lot of complaining about the state of the world and some of the people in it, so I felt it was time to talk about some of the humans who, at the moment, I think are freaking awesome.

-BILL GATES: The world's most famous computer geek is using his fortune to almost exclusively improve the world we live in. Earlier this year, he announced he was donating five billion (yes BILLION) dollars to fund malaria research in Africa, thus single-handedly contributing half of the annual funds used to eradicate the most deadly disease on Earth. This amount is equal to the entire contribution of the United States Government over the next five years. And last month, Mr. Gates donated $22 million to the Chicago Public School System, money that is greatly needed to fix some of the worst schools in one of America's best cities. He has also written that, upon his death, his children are only to receive 1% of his earnings, the rest will be donated to various philanthropic causes around the world. And, unlike so many other wealthy and/or famous celebrities, he and his wife actually appear to love each other. Big ups to that.

-B. JOSEPH WHITE: The President of the University of Illinois is living up to all his hype. I liked him from the day he took office, when I saw him spend his first 12 hours in the Illini Union talking to students about their life at the University. While Dean of the School of Business at the University of Michigan, he increased the school's endowment by 700% over a ten year period, which is a ridiculous amount. In only his first year at Illinois, White has increased private sector donations to the University by 10% - including a $30 donation from your truly. Next year, he will launch a $2 billion fundraising campaign which, if successful, will make great strides in helping Illinois achieve national prominence. Tied in with this goal is White's active recruitment of out-of-state students. Illinois has the highest percentage of in-state students of any Big Ten school, and White has realized that out-of-staters not only bring in more money because they pay higher tuition (and thus make the University wealthier), they also add to the diversity and intellectual atmosphere of the campus. To that end, White has also stated his goal of donating more campus funds to the Liberal Arts and Sciences, since the College of Engineering recieves plenty of money from private donations as it is. A better LAS school means better graduates which means more donations, and then the cycle continues. I love my school, and I am glad it has a President who is as committed to seeing it succeed as I am.

-BRIAN GREENE: The Harvard- and Oxford-educated Professor of Mathematics and Astrophysics at Columbia University could be the most pretentious person in the world. But instead he writes completely readable, down-to-Earth, even sometimes funny books about relativity, quantum mechanics, and superstring theory. I am glad there are absolutely brilliant people in this world who choose to share their brilliance with the rest of us while still managing to be humble and human.