On a unique fellow and a good friend: Celebrating the life of Stefan Hesse and his contributions to rehabilitation robotics, 1960-2016.

Five years ago I had the privilege of writing an editorial for this Journal presenting the state-of-theart in robotics. When Nathan Zasler, the Editor-inChief of Neurorehabilitation, asked me to wear the same “hat” again 5 years later, I was eager to include many of the same 2012 issue collaborators to allow the readership to compare “apples-to-apples” and to fully appreciate the march of progress we’ve seen in the field over the last 5 years. Regrettably, it is with tremendous sadness that I am not able to include a paper from my dear friend Dr. Stefan Hesse (PhD 1988, Neurology 1990, PMR 1996, Social Medicine 2004). I first heard about Stefan Hesse in 1994. Fletcher McDowell, CEO and President of Burke Rehabilitation Hospital at the time, introduced me to this