David Leon Gil

David Leon Gil was born November 16, 1985, in Houston, TX to Patzi and Asher Gil. From an early age, it was clear that David was both extremely bright and musically talented. He started playing tunes on a small electric keyboard at the age of two and began formal piano lessons when he was only three-years-old. At the age of five, David became the youngest person to perform in the Stern Auditorium of Carnegie Hall for a benefit concert held as part of the hall's 100th anniversary. He returned to Carnegie Hall the following year, and by the age of eight he had performed with the Houston Symphony, Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra, and WrocA�aw Philharmonia in Poland. Because of his achievements, David appeared on Live with Regis and Kathy Lee and Good Morning America. He also won a number of awards as a soloist including the Early Bach Award from the National Piano Guild. In addition to the piano, David devoted his time to learning computer science. At the age of twelve, he became the youngest Microsoft Certified Solution Developer, which allowed him to play an active role in the early stages of Microsoft Windows testing. And at the age of fourteen, David became an Eagle Scout. When his family moved to St. Petersburg, FL, David enrolled in Eckerd College at the age of fifteen and went on to graduate with the bachelor's degree in computer science by the time he was eighteen. At his graduation, David was elected a member of Sigma Xi, the scientific research honor society. While at college, David developed an interest in philosophy, logic, and law, and he decided to attend law school after graduation. David scored in the 99th percentile on his LSAT, and went on to matriculate at Georgetown Law School where he was awarded the Ferrell Scholarship in recognition of his academic achievements. At Georgetown Law, he was on the Dean's List and went on to serve as the executive editor of The Tax Lawyer, a journal published through the American Bar Association. While he was attending Georgetown, David met his partner of twelve years, Donald Windover. Donald is a scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where he works on improving methods for x-ray metrology. After his time at law school, David realized that his passions lay in science and not law. This change in career direction represented one of David's remarkable qualities: he was never scared to try something new, and then recognize it was not for him. David went on to join NIST to work on x-ray metrology. There he used his background in computer science to develop new statistical methods for x-ray metrological data analysis and helped to develop the calibration standard for x-ray diffraction measurements. While at NIST, David also designed new x-ray monochromators (x-ray "color" selectors) for an x-ray diffraction instrument that continue to this day to perform better than the original monochromators, which has improved the accuracy of x-ray diffraction measurements made at NIST. David's scientific interests and achievements led him to graduate school at Princeton University, where he started to work on x-ray laser technology and physics, but realized that his interests were more in the field of quantum computing, large-scale computing, and cryptography. In 2014, David joined Yahoo as a senior member of the cryptography and encryption team where he worked on methods to securely distribute encryption keys to users. And just last year, David joined Salesforce as a senior member of their "Big Data" infrastructure team. Apart from his work, David also was an avid photographer. Everywhere he went, David could be seen with his camera in hand, taking photographs of some of the most beautiful places in the world, including Washington D.C., Paris, Tokyo, and Berlin. But David also had a gift that let him see the beauty in even the most mundane things, like a lawn chair overturned in a shallow algae-filled pond or a rusted drinking fountain. David is survived by his partner Donald, parents Asher and Patzi, and brother Daniel. David's contributions to a wide range of fields speak to his child-like curiosity, but what really drove him was his desire to help people and make a difference. Because he was a scientist at heart and always fascinated by the brain, David would be happy to know that contributions made in his honor will spur new research to help those who suffer from diseases of the brain. Please direct any donations in his honor to the Brain Research Foundation (thebrf.org) and the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (bbrfoundation.org). The graveside funeral service will be held on Thursday, March 31, at 1:00 p.m. at Menorah Gardens, Chapel Hill Memorial Park. Shiva minyanim will be held at the home of Patzi and Asher Gil on Thursday and Sunday at 6:30 pm. The address is Harbour Club, 100 Bluff View Dr., #102B, Belleair Bluffs 33770. David C. Gross Funeral Homes, Belcher Road Chapel in Clearwater is serving the family. Service Information