Named in honor of Richard Kowalski (1963– ) of Quail Hollow Observatory, near Tampa, Florida. Kowalski is engaged in follow-up and discovery work on minor planets and comets. In 1998 he founded and has energetically maintained the Minor Planet Mailing List, a web-based information service and chat group for amateur and professional observers. Kowalski has also been the main organizer of the 1999 Amateur-Professional Minor Planet Workshop at the Lowell Observatory. (M 34343) Citation written by the discoverer and P. G. Comba. _ _.