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In Memory of Stéphane Van Gelder

Moved Submitted by: Rafik DammikDammak

Seconded by: Donna Austinthe GNSO Council

Whereas:

1. Stéphane Van Gelder first entered the domain name business in the late 1990s with TLD Fastrack Ltd. In 1999 when he founded Indom, a registrar in France, which later became become part of the GroupNBT based in the United Kingdom. It was while Stéphane was General Manager manager of INDOM that he was elected to the GNSO Council by the Registrar Stakeholder Group.
2. Stéphane served on the GNSO Council from 2008 through 2012, as an elected representative of the Registrars Constituency.
3. Stéphane served as Vice Chair of the GNSO Council in 2010 and was elected and served two consecutive terms as Chair of the GNSO Council in 2011 and 2012.
4. As Chair of the GNSO Council, Stéphane was an impartial and neutral facilitator on all issues. For Stéphane, remaining neutral was key to ensuring collective dialogue.
5. Stéphane made significant contributions to ICANN and was a strong and respected community leader. During his tenure as GNSO Chair, Stéphane oversaw and shepherded the:
   1. completion of an extensive update of the GNSO's operating procedures;
   2. establishment of the DNS Security & Stability Analysis working group jointly with the ALAC, ccNSO and NRO;
   3. completion of the Fast Flux, Post-Expiration Domain Name Recovery and Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy (IRTP) Part B Policy Development Processes (PDPs) and the joint ccNSO-GNSO Internationalized Domain Name working group;
   4. launch of the IRTP Part C, Thick WHOIS and Locking of Domain Names subject to Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy Proceedings PDPs; and (e) continuing work on WHOIS studies, registration abuse policies, and multiple other GNSO projects.
   5. the completion of the Applicant Guidebook for the 2012 New gTLD Program and the launch of the Program.
   6. Stéphane was a well-respected and much liked member of not only the GNSO, but of the broader ICANN Community. He was admired for his passion, his fairness, his ability to find the best in people and his true gift for uniting people.
   7. Stéphane’s passing is a great loss to the many people in the ICANN community that had the pleasure to work and interact with him, and for his many friends at ICANN the loss is significant.

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