Steve Lagakos was a versatile and talented biostatistician, a gifted teacher, and deft administrator. Steve’s leadership in AIDS clinical trials and longitudinal studies helped convert data into action — to prevent HIV transmission, improve treatment, and save lives. At the Institute of Medicine, Steve chaired a technically demanding study on methods to use in biomedical AIDS prevention trials. Steve made complicated problems seem simple, and in this IOM effort, he demonstrated his ability to clarify differences, develop consensus, and express cogent conclusions and policy recommendations. Steve was a successful leader and a delightful personality with a knack for finding something of value in the views of others, much as he could extract value from numerical data in a clinical trial.”