Robert H. Kraichnan, Homewood Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department of Johns Hopkins University, died on 26 February. He was 80 years old. Kraichnan was one of Albert Einstein's last assistants at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He had a long career as consultant in a variety of governmental organizations and private firms, and conducted pioneering research on field-theoretic approaches to turbulence and other non-equilibrium systems. Kraichnan shared the ICTP Dirac Medal 2003 with Vladimir E. Zakharov.