It is oh so fitting that on the day before William W. "Bill" Otterson's death he was featured in the Wall Street Journal as a cheerleader for San Diego’s technology industry.
     Otterson, 69, spent 13 years building UCSD Connect into an organization admired worldwide. He died Nov. 24. Many will remember him as a tireless networker; the hundreds of young scientists and entrepreneurs he worked with to help nurture their companies will remember his as a hero.
     His prowess as not only an industry champion, but a gatherer of solid business information, was widely respected, as witnessed by the more than 10,000 people who subscribed to his newsletter. Before joining Connect, Otterson had a successful career with IBM and turned around a company, Cipher Data Products and took it public.
     As a legacy, consider this: Of all the companies that have participated in Connect's Financial Forum or Corporate Partnership Forum since 1985, 80 percent remain in business or were purposely acquired. Collectively, those participants raised more than $4 billion in financing.
     "All of San Diego, not to mention UCSD, will be the lesser for his loss," says Robert Dynes, UCSD chancellor.
     Otterson is survived by his wife, Anne, sons John and Eric, a daughter, Helen, and a thriving tech community.