In the first week of January 2026, the United States lost a wide array of influential figures across politics, science, and culture. The most infamous death was that of Aldrich Ames, the CIA counterintelligence officer and convicted Soviet spy, who died on January 5 at age 84. Sports pioneer Diane Crump, the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby, also passed away, alongside NBA center Jawann Oldham. The entertainment world mourned Seinfeld director Tom Cherones, 2001: A Space Odyssey visual effects artist Con Pedersen, and Our Gang actor Sidney Kibrick. Academic leaders Linda S. Wilson (president of Radcliffe College) and Samuel O. Thier (president of Brandeis University) died, as did 111-year-old supercentenarian Edith Renfrow Smith. Political and cultural losses included U.S. Congressman Doug LaMalfa, former Iranian diplomat Hushang Ansary, chemist Edith M. Flanigen, and poet Nellie Wong.