Dan Dennett.
Apparently today was unexpectedly the final day for this amicably soft-spoken philosopher.
The thought about Dan that uniquely strikes me? I seem to recall the mood of his talks more than the content. Any seeker of truth or clarity might fear that thought was somehow denigrating, but I mention it to highlight that the spirit of this person's subtle and playful approach to finding truth or clarity stood out. No one else quite had it, which made him complementary to others with their own approaches. (Dan certainly belonged in that room.)
College showed me that philosophy was disappointingly (or refreshingly?) more insular and silly than sophisticated or reverable. But, I reasoned, why shouldn't it be? Philosophy, it seemed, existed before most of the main discoveries of science. Facing questions like "what is nature," "what happens when we die," "on what kind of object do we all live, and who made it," or "how are we aware and alive," the best humanity had was people attempting somehow to reach the answers through mental effort. Of course it would turn out silly. Now, the role of philosophy is relegated to the areas upon which science's light has yet to brightly shine. Questions about the specific nature of consciousness remain, for example, and that's an area Dan Dennett seemed to delight in exploring.
Other tributes to Dan: