Friends start fellowship in honor of late grad student

Although Gordon Kato will never again teach a psychology class or work overtime helping his students, a fellowship created in honor of the graduate student who recently died will help his legacy at IU endure.\n"The fellowship is the best way of keeping Gordon's memory alive," said his sister Pamela Klebanov. "It will honor his memory because we are interested in awarding the fellowship to someone who displays the same commitment and dedication to the study of social psychology that my brother did."\nGordon Kato, 45, who was an associate instructor in the department of psychology, died of a heart attack in late October. In response to Kato's sudden death, Jim Sherman, professor of psychological and brain sciences and Gordon Kato's faculty adviser, created a scholarship for graduate students in the social psychology field. The award is set to be given annually, starting in spring 2007.\n"Jim is someone who is two steps ahead of everyone else," Klebanov said. "In the back of our minds, my husband and I wanted to do something like this, but we were having such a hard time dealing with things that we didn't put it together. When Jim mentioned it, it seemed like the perfect thing." \nKato's family and friends have contributed to the multiple-donor endowment, said Helene O'Leary, an IU Foundation scholarship development officer. The fellowship will continue to be given as long as there is an interest in it, O'Leary said. \n"The award will be given annually to a student who best exemplifies Gordon's qualities: great intellectual curiosity, creativity of thought, a love of social psychology and an apppreciation of the complexities of social life and someone who, like Gordon, lives life to the fullest," Sherman said in an e-mail.\nKato received an undergraduate degree in experimental psychology from the University of Michigan in 1986 and a master's degree in education from Harvard in 1987. During the 17 years he spent in New York City, Kato made a name for himself in the publishing industry and eventually created his own talent and literary agency. After the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Kato decided to move away from his job in New York and return to the classroom.\n"After 9/11, people re-evaluated what they want to do in life," Klebanov said. "Life is short and they want to be doing what they like best, and I think that is why my brother decided to go back to graduate school and do what he loved the most."\nKato was known for his cheerful disposition, caring nature and lively sense of humor. \n"I have received dozens of letters from Gordon's friends and colleagues over the past month, and echoed throughout these letters, and in my own heart, is the feeling that Gordon was a genuinely kind person," said his mother, Barbara Kato. "He was concerned about people, was ready to listen to anyone who had a problem and was ready to help in any way he could."\nFamily and friends also remember his passion for music, especially bands such as The Monkees and The Beatles. Over the years, he built up an extensive collection of rare movies and books that will be sold, O'Leary said, and the profits will be contributed to the fellowship fund. \n"I think that Gordon would be pleased that Sherman, his friend and adviser, thought so highly of him as to devote the time, energy and resources to establish this fellowship," Klebanov said. "However, he would be pleased mostly by the fact that the fellowship would go to a deserving person who would one day shape the future course of psychology"