Aaron Swartz, 26, passed away on January 11, 2013. He was best known for his involvement in advancing the open-access movement, and for his political activism in pushing for a reform of United States copyright law. During his short life, Swartz also founded a number of companies, including Infogami and Demand Progress. He held fellowships at Harvard’s Edmond J. Safra Research Lab on Institutional Corruption and the Harvard Center for Ethics, and was an important contributor to open-source software such as Creative Commons. Swartz will be remembered for his bold fight for an open internet and his dedication to achieving a truly equal and democratic society.