This is the end of an era for OpenSSL with the last of the original founders of the project passing on the torch to the current leadership of the project for the next phase of its evolution.

Mark was the primary instigator of OpenSSL, having worked with its predecessor (SSLeay), he shepherded the transition to OpenSSL in 1998 and was a crucial part of the initial project team.

Mark has had a lengthy involvement with OpenSSL over the last 25 years, both as a Red Hat funded contributor and as a volunteer. Many of Mark’s contributions were on a personal basis and a lot were unseen outside of the project team.

For those who were unaware, Mark has fundamentally managed the OpenSSL Security Team with the same level of dedication and professionalism with which he managed the corresponding team within Red Hat. Mark has toiled for countless hours coordinating communication and messaging between the various external parties and the developers working on bug fixes, managing outbound communication - often under extreme time pressure and scrutiny. Mark has made many sacrifices (canceling personal vacation time, returning from holidays early, working round the clock and late into the night) all of which have benefited both the project and our broad community of users.

In addition, Mark has been a highly active member of the OpenSSL Management Committee (OMC) since its inception. Including, in recent years, taking on the role of treasurer during a time of significant change for the project.

Mark’s professionalism, utmost integrity and general cheerfulness will be sorely missed.

There are not many people that can match Mark’s achievements of having founded a project and contributed to it over a 25-year period and being able to step down with the project in a sufficiently healthy position that we are looking forward to the next 25 years of supporting our mission and upholding the project’s values.

We are proud to have had Mark as a colleague over a period of many years and we will miss his many contributions to the project. We would like to thank him for all the time, effort and energy he has put into OpenSSL. The project would not be where it is today without Mark.

The OpenSSL Project