ASEN WAS ONE OF MY  BEST  FRIENDS,
I WAS SURPRISED OF HIS  SUDDEN  FOR ME LOSS.
ER  LOVE HIS FAMILY  AD WILL BE  WITH  THEM AS  LONG AS WE LIVE.
ASENE, I WISH YOUR WAY BETWEEN  THE UNIVERSITY  STARS IS BRIGHT AND PEACEFUL.
WAIT FOR  ME  THERE, BOYAN.

Little Red River, Arkansas, September 2018. Asen, Kiko, Rob, Pavel, and Peter. We really enjoyed great time together. Unforgettable memories.

Dear Dora and Family,
Please accept my sincere condolences on your loss. May the warmest memories of your husband, father, grandfather live in your hearts forever.

Olga Luppov

Hallo Asen - thank you so much for all the disussions on mathematics, God and the world, often till late in the night.  
Bye-bye forever!
Diethard

Asen was a remarkable man.  He was an accomplished mathematician, a first-class editor, an avid outdoorsman, a proud father, and a devoted husband.  His mathematical accomplishments enabled him to travel the world.  He had collaborators from Australia to Seattle to Austria to Bulgaria and back home to Ann Arbor.  By the time I came here as executive editor, Asen had been an MR editor for over 20 years.  I often spoke with Asen about MR, especially in my first couple of years.  Our conversations helped refine my understanding of the editorial mission of the 75-year old institution I had joined.  They also made me feel truly welcome.  Asen believed deeply in the value of what we did and the need to make sure that we achieved that mission with excellence.  Moreover, he had given a lot of thought to these issues.  We didn’t agree on everything, but the discussions were always friendly and remarkably productive.  I had hoped to see more of Asen after he retired.   But he was as busy as usual, and then the pandemic intervened.  I am shocked and particularly saddened by Asen’s passing.  When I heard the news, the sense of loss was palpable.  To those who knew him better and longer than I did, especially to his beloved family, the loss is so much greater.  But as I think now over the seven years that I knew Asen, I have good memories.  So much of what he did was an adventure to him, whether his hand held a fishing rod or pen.  They were adventures that he embraced with passion and wonder.  I am going to miss that.  Godspeed, Asen.  

Dear Dora, Mira, and Kiko,

We are deeply saddened to learn that Asen passed away.  When we talked with him in February last year, he had many wonderful plans for travel, research, visiting  friends, and enjoying retirement. We will miss his sense of humor, positive attitude, and inspiring conversations.

Please accept our condolences,
Mariana and Vladimir

Dear Dora, Mira, and Kiko,

We were very saddened to learn about Asen’s passing. For over 25 years he was a part of our lives. We celebrated and mourned together. He was always someone you could rely on, ready to help, even when he had taken ill. He was a kind of godfather to all Bulgarian’s in Ann Arbor. His door was always open to everyone. Our fond memories of him live on. Please accept our deepest sympathies. 

Vania, Vlado, Tzeno, Karina


Dear Dora, Mira and Kiko,

All my love and my deepest condolences to you and the rest of your family. I will always remember Asen as the most warm and genuine person. He will be greatly missed. Rest in peace, Asen!

Marianna


From George Yin, University of Connecticut

I am saddened to hear about the passing of Asen. He was a great colleague and a dear friend. Asen made significant contributions to optimization, control, variational analysis, and related fields.
During the years, I had the privilege working with him on the editorial board of SIAM Journal on Control and Optimization.
His passing is a great loss to the journal and to SIAM. Mitch Chernoff, SIAM Publications Manager, noted that "Asen Dontchev served as a Corresponding Editor for the journal since 2015. Prior to that, for 15 years, spanning 2000 – 2014, he worked as a SICON Associate Editor. Editorial Board service of this length is impressive and not often seen."

Many people recalled their work with Asen. Jinglai Shen, one of the members of the editorial board, noted that "Asen was extremely knowledgeable and responsive, and he was also very supportive to junior editors in the meanwhile. He always provided timely and insightful suggestions and supported my ideas when I had a difficult time making a decision on some paper and had to consult him. It was such a pleasant experience working with Asen, from which I learned a lot."

Even when he was really ill, Asen still managed to put the journal's work on top priority. Very recently, he suggested finding a replacement for him due to his illness. This facilitated the continuity of editorial transition.

On a personal note, Asen was always friendly and willing to help in any way he could. Before one of my visits to Bulgaria, I asked him for suggestions on many things. He explained to me each of these in detail. He even suggested to me where to stay in Sofia, and the best way to reach Burgas, etc.

Asen's life would seem too short to many, but those who were touched by him understood that the quality of existence far exceeds the quantity of time in which one lives. We will forever remember his smile, his legacy, and his contributions to mathematics.

Dear Dora and Family, 
Please accept our deepest condolences for your tremendous loss of your Husband, and Father of Mira and Kiko. We sincerely mourn his passing and we will always remember his kindness, his friendship, the hours we spent with him in the gym, on holiday celebrations, fishing adventures and his sense of humor. 
Rest in peace, our dear friend.
From Metodi, Marina and Boian Dimitrov. 

Asen has lived his life to the fullest. It is hard  believe that he passed away. He was a great colleague, always willing to help, and quickly getting to the heart of a problem. We shared a love for outdoors and talked about it a lot. I miss him ...

My deepest condolences to the family.

Dear Dora,
Please accept our deepest condolences for the loss of Asen.  He will be remembered as an excellent researcher and a man of great character and humanity.  
Dimitar & Mominka Filev

Dear Dora, 
It is with great sadness that we  have learnt about Asen's passing away. Great shock-totally unexpected. I still remember his contagious laugh, sense of humor and above all great  friendship.  I have known Asen for all the years since the time we were both working on our PhDs' in Warsaw. A wonderful, cheerful   and resourceful colleague.
On behalf of the entire group from Warsaw University  -sincere condolences to you and your Family. 
Irena


Dear Dora and Family,
Мила Дора,
Бог да прости Асен! С усмивка си мислим за него и веселите часове, прекарани в Ню Йорк; за интересните разговори, изпълнени с мечти за нови пътувания до близки и далечни места; за радоста и гордостта от споделените снимки на вашето растящото семейство. Асен ще продължи да бъде с нас в сърцата ни.
Целуваме те!
Кураж и сили в тези трудни дни,
Маги, Весо, Мария и Ива

Dear Dora and Family,

Please accept my sincere condolences  over the loss of Asen. I will remember him as a person that loved the life and  always had time to give advice and assistance when it was needed. My prayers are with you.

Irina Sivergina

Dear Dora, Mira and Kiko, please accept our most sincere condolences for your great loss.  We will miss Uncle Assen very much.  He will remain in our hearts forever.  Evgenia, Nikolay, Nikolay Jr., Alexander and Dimitar Vladimirov


Dear brother, you will remain forever in my heart as a great and good man. Your sister Nina

Dear Dora, Mira and Kiko,

We are very sorry for your tremendous loss!
Let us  selebrate a life well lived!
Stay together and be strong.

We will never forget the warmth in your house in the cold Michigan evenings.

Our sincere condolences,

Mariana and Valentin






Dear Asen,
meeting you and Petar Kenderov to start a fruitful collaboration between our  countries was the most important  fact of my professional life. But now I am missing not only a colleague, but more a friend, and a model. We shall all miss you in our community.

Rest in peace, dear Asen! Vesko and I will always remember your smile and good humor, your hospitality and willingness to help any new Bulgarian joining Ann Arbor/Ypsi community. We cherish so many good memories from New Years, Birthdays and Names days’ celebrations at your house, and will never forget how you and Dora made us feel at home. Going camping and fishing together will be one of the best memories from the past 22 years. We will miss you!
Our deepest condolences to Dora, Mira and Kiko! 
Vera & Vesko


Asen started at MR as an editor on the same day I started as a copy editor.  When our turn finally came to get a spot in the parking lot based on seniority, instead of letting a coin toss decide who got the coveted spot, he graciously insisted I take it, and waited months for another spot to open up.  I never forgot that kindness.

I always liked going to his office to ask questions, because he was approachable and explained things well.  I enjoyed the art and posters he displayed too, and he seemed to appreciate those who noticed and appreciated these.  He almost always had a twinkle in his eye and a smile, some piece of wisdom or curiosity to share.   





I was shocked and saddened to hear of Asen's passing. He always seemed so full of life it hardly seems possible. I had the good fortune to work with him at Mathematical Reviews and more closely helping him edit one of his books, and he was unfailingly cheery and generous. He will be deeply missed. 

Rest in peace dear Friend!
We will sorely miss you. You will be in our hearts.
Most sincere condolences to Dora, Mira, Kiko and rest of the family.
Pavel and Ani


My sincere condoleances to Asen's family and entourage.
I met Asen several times during my career. We discussed about mathematics of course (Analysis, Optimization, Optimal control) but not only (evolution of Europe, politics,..).
I visited Bulgaria (actually Sofia) only once, during a trip from IIASA organized by Vladimir Demyanov (St Petersburg). Asen was in Sofia to show us the town and the neighboring mountain. There is somewhere in the archives of Demyanov a short movie showing all of us on the top of the mountain (in particular, Claude Lemaréchal  skiing with Asen).
Renewing my condoleances,
J.-.B. Hiriart-Urruty, Emeritus Professor (Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, france).

Rest in peace dear Asen!
We miss you very much and you will remain forever in our hearts.

Asen was a close friend of mine since more than forty years. He was a talented mathematician I had the privilege to collaborate with him. The loss is deep, condolences to Dora and his family also from Orietta, Tullio Zolezzi.

Dear Dora and Family,

I had only got to know Asen in the last several years and had wonder why I had not discovered this playful entertaining and sincere person sooner. He is gone all too soon but he will be remembers as a good friend. He had a deep understanding of his field and I benefited from his interest in my efforts. We had future plans for more Australian visits, a country in which I know he had many friends who will miss him greatly. 

Dear Dora and Family,
We are so sorry for your loss. We will miss seeing Asen play tennis or take a stroll in the neighborhood. He always spoke lovingly about his family, was proud of his children and his eyes lit up talking about his grandchildren. We hope you find peace and comfort in the beautiful memories shared together.
With Deepest Sympathy,
Antonia and Chavdar Popov

It is so sad to lose Asen. I had known him for just a few years, but he was a dear friend very close to my heart. His witty humor, wise advice, and bright smile enriched my life. I will cherish my memories of our walks through the forests and of the meals we shared with animated conversations and cheerful laughter.

I am grateful for having had such a wonderful friend!


To my loved scientific supervisor and inspirer  - rest in peace...
Сбогом, Асене...

Dear Dora, Mira and Kiko,
We were heart-broken to hear about your loss, Asen was such a dear friend. We still remember how our families started our endeavor in Ann Arbor 31 years ago! We didn’t have much, but we had great hope and big dreams that we accomplished thanks to the hard work and support of each other! Asen was an inspiration and, of course, the driving force to go to the parks no matter the weather, the season or how busy we were – an unforgettable time for us and our children. Asen did live his life to the fullest and we were so happy to share it, precious memories that will stay with us!
Please accept our deepest condolences, our thoughts are with you!
Vania and Valentin


Мили братко, за винаги ще останеш в сърцето ми - един велик и любящ човек. Сестра Нина 

Please accept our most heartfelt sympathies for your loss... 
Asen will be forever in our hearts and memories, we will miss him. 
But as Seneca says: The comfort of having a friend may be taken away, but not that of having had one. 
Thanks for the friendship, Asen!

Peter and Nellie

Dear Dora, Mira, and Kiko,

Thank you for generously sharing Asen with the rest of us. He was always kind and inclusive to young, aspiring mathematicians. His was an example to aspire to. We will miss him.

Dear Dora and family, dear colleagues,
We all have suffered a great loss. We all have good memories of Asen in his many different roles. We all have learned something from him. Asen was a great researcher, and it is going to take time to properly evaluate his contributions to mathematics and neighboring areas, but what we have learned from Asen goes well beyond mathematics.
These memories and this new knowledge will stay in our hearts and our minds.

An exceptional mathematician and person has left us.  

Many of Asen's articles are unavoidable references for those working on stability properties in mathematical programming, which is my main theoretical research subject. Personally, I had the opportunity to discuss with him about mathematics, but also about other (life) topics. I always received good and diligent advices from Asen. 

We were planning a long research stay in Chile, which includes a semester lecture on variational analysis. The pandemic postponed this plan, now it has been postponed forever.

It is a very sad day for the optimization community!

My condolences to his family and friends.



Dear Dora and Family,

We are saddened to hear of Asen's passing.  Please know that our thoughts and prayers are with you at this difficult time.  We will never forget the times we spent together, the stories that he told from his fishing adventures, the laughter, and the time that he came to visit us in Paris.  We will miss him greatly.

Sincerest condolences,

Jason, Dessie and Alex

I met Asen at work and he was always kind, patient, and friendly. While he was very productive he always made time to have a pleasant conversation. His advice was immensely helpful when I traveled to Warsaw. 

Cheers to Asen for his beautiful life: love of learning, love of family & friends, love of travel, and love of nature! Few people live life so fully, thank you for this wonderful teaching, Asen!



Asen has been a good friend since his arrival at Mathematical Reviews in Ann Arbor many years ago.   Our common interests in optimization, control and broader mathematical topics brought us together on many occasions, but our friendship went far beyond those interests.   We enjoyed being together with families, at parties, and hosting numerous visitors to Ann Arbor.    He was a special person, and I treasure my memories of him.  

Hey Asen - here's a toast to a life lived very well indeed.  I can see your mischievous and infectious smile as I toast!  Fond memories,  Adrian

I had the chance of having Asen as my PhD advisor. I will always be thankful for his hospitality (and Dora’s), for hosting me at their beautiful home the first time that I travelled abroad. I will never forget those dinners together at their place, including my first birthday celebration abroad. Even though my poor English didn’t let me enjoy most of the conversations, he was always extremely patient to explain me everything again. I was lucky to learn many things from him, not only about maths, as he was always willing to share many good advices and soon became a father figure to me. My fondest memory is our walks together in nature, talking about life… and suddenly about some good math idea that he just had. 

My great condolences to Dora, Kiko, Mira and the rest of his family. It was clear that Asen deeply loved you. It is very sad that life has not given his grandkids more time to enjoy such a wonderful granddad. 

I will always miss you, Asen. Rest in peace,
Fran.

Very sad news, to say the least, but there is no appropriate adjective.
I have known him for longer than half a century. He was an exceptional person and we had a lot of fond and very personal memories which I will continue to cherish. In his last months we communicated often with emails and via Skype. He was calm, accepted the inevitable, and was satisfied with what he had accomplished. I am sure he will be sorely missed and will be remembered by all who had known him.
Rest in peace, my friend, and we will meet on the other side, wherever that is.


Dear Dora, Mira and Kiko,

I learned of the passing of my friend Asen with great sadness and sorrow. I imagine yours. I had known Asen since I was a PhD student in 1992 when he visited us at the University of Limoges from Sofia. I remember like it was yesterday. I was touched by his modesty, his mathematical depth and his kindness without forgetting the convivial side which makes Asen unique in our universe of mathematicians.  Our friendship has not ceased since.

Our community has lost a great mathematician with a big heart. I had the pleasure of visiting him in Ann Arbor where I stayed with him and he also visited me several times in Limoges. We also had the opportunity to hike together in the mountains and to fish on his boat. 
I learned a lot from Asen, not only maths but life lessons. I am indebted to him.

I send all three of you my love and sympathy during these painful times. My warm thoughts are with you. I want to express my deepest condolences to you. Words cannot express how saddened I am at this loss.


I have only met Asen a few times, but it feels like I lost a good friend. I fondly remember every conversation we had: he was such an exceptionally upbeat and intelligent person, always ready to share insightful and honest advice on life and mathematics. 

I will miss Asen greatly, and will forever regret that I didn't get to know him better... 

Have very fond memories of your visits to Federation University and CIAO.  My condolences to Dora and family.

Dear Asen,

I will never forget you. You are a beautiful person.
Thank you for your kindness, thank you for the moments we shared.

I hope you rest in peace.

Michel

Thank you Asen for sharing your passion and love of math with us.
 Rest in peace Michel 🙏🏻

OBITUARY

Dr. Asen L Dontchev

June 19, 1948 – September 16, 2021

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