A tribute to Professor Hongjun Lu

Dr. Hongjun Lu, Professor of Computer Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, lost his brave fight against cancer and left us in the evening of March 3, 2005. The world lost a dedicated and brilliant computer scientist. The database research community lost a respected and prolific researcher, an effortless organizer and promoter of database research in the world, a friend cherished by many colleagues and researchers, and a wonderful teacher who deeply affected and was revered by his students.