List of Famous people who died in 2003

Pierre Chanal was a French soldier and suspected serial killer. He was convicted of the rape and kidnapping of a young man, Balázs Falvay, whom he picked up hitchhiking in 1988. He received a ten-year sentence for the attack, and was released in 1995 on probation. He was accused of murdering three of eight young men who disappeared in northeastern France between 1980 and 1987. One of his alleged victims was Trevor O'Keeffe. Chanal committed suicide in prison in 2003 while on trial.

Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. was an American politician and attorney from Georgia. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected in 1973 at the age of 35 as the first black mayor of Atlanta, Georgia and of any major city in the South. He served three terms, making him the second longest-serving mayor of Atlanta, after six-term mayor William B. Hartsfield.

Su Buqing, also spelled Su Buchin, was a Chinese mathematician, educator and poet. He was the founder of differential geometry in China, and served as president of Fudan University and honorary chairman of the Chinese Mathematical Society.

William Cameron "Willie" McCool was an American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, and NASA astronaut, who was the pilot of Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-107. He and the rest of the crew of STS-107 were killed when Columbia disintegrated during re-entry into the atmosphere. He was the youngest male member of the crew. McCool was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Mark Semenovich Pinsker or Mark Shlemovich Pinsker was a noted Russian mathematician in the fields of information theory, probability theory, coding theory, ergodic theory, mathematical statistics, and communication networks.

Élie Fruchart was a French football player who played with US Auchel. He was born in Calonne-Ricouart. He has also managed US Auchel, RC Lens, Stade de Reims, USL Dunkerque and Angers SCO.

Alan Eaton Davidson CMG was a British diplomat and writer best known for his writing and editing on food and gastronomy.

Rick Douglas Husband was an American astronaut and fighter pilot. He traveled into space twice: as Pilot of STS-96 and Commander of STS-107. He and the rest of the crew of STS-107 were killed when Columbia disintegrated during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere. Husband is a recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.