Philippe Bernard passed away on October 10, 2023.
You will find below a tribute written by our colleague Giorgio Cavallari.
As a member of the Superconducting Cavities R&D group for LEP Phase 2, I spent ten years with Philippe Bernard developing a technology to bring the energy of the LEP beams to 103GeV, a result which was obtained with some difficulty.
Philippe was a group leader who knew how to give us confidence: he was always by our side, listening to our difficulties and knowing how to protect us, if necessary.
He was also very active in the installation of Explorer, at the time the most sensitive antenna for the search for gravitational waves. It was on this cryogenic detector that a whole generation of physicists was trained, culminating in the discovery of the gravitational waves by the large interferometric detectors LIGO and Virgo.
Two years ago, I wrote to Philippe, who told me about his serious health problems. When I asked him whether he was considering a transplant, Philippe replied that he had given up on it to leave this possibility to someone younger. This, for me, is the mark of a man of integrity and generosity.
Giorgio Cavallari
We invite you to also read the tributes published in the GAC-EPA Bulletin 65 or on the CERN website.