Karen Lewison, CEO of Pomcor, has passed away after fighting cancer for almost two years. Karen and I used different names, but we were married and I loved her deeply.
Karen was a physician, but after co-founding Pomcor, and later taking over as CEO, she pivoted into hi tech. She managed government grants, conducted research, wrote code, and was a coinventor of several US patents granted to Pomcor. In particular, she was the lead inventor of the recently granted US patent 10,576,377, which introduces the concept of rich credentials. She was also the lead inventor of a patent application that discloses a method of operating a certificate authority on a blockchain or distributed ledger. The very same day that she passed away a USPTO examiner called and “allowed” that application, which means that a patent will be granted on the application in due course. I was able to communicate the news to Karen.
Karen’s cancer was diagnosed at a very late stage of the disease, where patients are expected to give up. Instead she chose to fight, and won several battles against complications of the disease, achieving spectacular recoveries after being on the brink of death. Throughout her fierce war against cancer she remained engaged in our research. We filed joint patent applications on several new inventions and coauthored a paper and several blog posts.
I plan to continue on my own the work that Karen and I were doing together, in honor of her memory and inspired by her courage. Pomcor will go on.
Hi,
This is Dan Ding from Oregon.
I’m so sad to hear the news about Karen.
Seb and I still live in the same place in OR. You are welcome to come over.
How can we keep in touch with you? We keep the same phone number: XXXXXXXXXX. [Phone number edited out by moderator for privacy]
Dan
Hi Dan, thank you very much for using the comment to reach me. I will write back by email. – Francisco
I am deeply saddened to hear the news about Karen. It must be very difficult for you. She is a very special and remarkable person. She will be remembered.
Karen
Thank you, Karen.
Francisco — My deepest sympathies to you and your family.
Thank you, Anil.
I’m so sorry to hear about Karen’s passing. I recall she was present when we first met, but was focused on her medical work. What an amazing transition to become a security/encryption researcher and developer. It speaks to how special a person she was. My sympathies to you. I will miss her too.
Thank you, Marc.
Dear Francisco,
I just saw notification of Karen’s passing. I am sorry and sending my condolences. Karen is a remarkable person with so many accomplishments. Cherish those wonderful memories you have with her.
Thank you, Greta.