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    The One Club’s Tony Gulisano dies at 70; memorial fund established

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments2048 Views
    Tony Gulisano
    NEW YORK --

    Tony Gulisano, global chief growth officer of The One Club for Creativity and a legendary figure in the global creative community, died suddenly in New York on March 25 at the age of 70.

    During his 40 years at international awards programs, Gulisano forged close professional and personal relationships with thousands of top creatives around the world. He entered the industry in 1982 with the Clio Awards, where he spent 26 years and served as managing director.  After four years of consulting with London International Awards, he joined The One Club in 2015.  

    Gulisano played a key role in growing international visibility and industry involvement for the nonprofit organization’s global programming.  He helped start and run the club’s ONE School free portfolio program for Black creatives and ONE Production diversity program, as well as its monthly “A Creative Perspective” video series featuring the views of some of the industry’s most interesting and celebrated creatives.

    He played a significant role in annual jury selection for The One Show, ADC Annual Awards, and One Asia Creative Awards, and was pivotal in assembling 21 global creative leaders to serve on the club’s latest International Board of Directors, announced last week.

    “Tony was one of the most influential people in the creative community who never looked for the spotlight himself,” said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, The One Club.  “He was the absolute nicest, most selfless person who never asked for anything except how he could help others, which he did over the past four decades for so many creatives around the world.  I’m very fortunate to have had Tony as a close colleague, trusted confidant and advisor, and very dear friend.  Our deepest condolences go out to his family, we will miss him greatly.”

    In his honor, The One Club has established the Tony Gulisano Memorial Fund.  Donations will go to support the club’s ONE School and ONE Production programs, as well as shared with his family.

    The One Club will pay tribute to Gulisano at The One Show 2022 awards ceremony on May 20 during Creative Week in New York, and host an event for the industry to celebrate his life in the summer.

    Services will be held on Tuesday, March 29 at 11 am at Saint Anthony of Padua church in New York.

    Tags:The One Club for CreativityTony Gulisano



    Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)

    Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.

    Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.

    "We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.

    Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.

    His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.

    Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.

    "Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More

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