Members of the GAC-EPA wishing to propose a brief tribute for a deceased GAC-EPA member are invited to bring their text to one of the Information sessions (https://gac-epa.org/information-sessions) or to send it to office.secretariat@gac-epa.org.
Tributes are subject to approval by the GAC-EPA Presidency.
Tributes should also be approved by the family of the deceased.
Any request that does not meet the above rules should be submitted to the GAC-EPA Presidency who will seek the Committee’s advice and approval for possible publication on the GAC-EPA website.
You may also consult a complete Deceased Members list of deceased pensioners, as known to the GAC-EPA.
- Tribute to Thérèse Bracke – Duffié d’Anglemont de Tassigny – 1943 – 2025
At the beginning of the year Thérèse has left us. She struggled with remarkable courage against the illness that undermined her condition since years. We knew her since many years and we regret that she is no longer with us. Her enthusiasm, her capacity to organize, her friendship, we miss it everyday more and more.… Read more: Tribute to Thérèse Bracke – Duffié d’Anglemont de Tassigny – 1943 – 2025 - Tribute Susan Lesley BlandIt was with great sadness that we learned of the passing on June 10, 2024 of Susan Lesley Bland, wife of our colleague and friend Robert Cailliau. A tribute was published in the CERN Bulletin. You can find it by clicking on this link.
- Tribute Philippe Bernard
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… Read more: Tribute Philippe Bernard - Tribute Maria Fidecaro
It is with a great sadness that we learnt that Maria Fidecaro, a leading figure at CERN, passed away on September 17th 2023. You will find on our French website tribute page https://gac-epa.org/hommages/ Ugo Amaldi’s speech at the funeral ceremony, on behalf of the CERN community. - Tribute Bachy-Lamprecht-Magnin
“BACHY’S TEAM” created in 1973 and which would become the group “INSTALLATION” IT’S FINISHED !!! After Georges DUBAIL, who left us on 17 December 2009 the rest of the “Three Musketeers” joined him this year and in a very short time. Is there perhaps a project for a large accelerator to be installed up there… Read more: Tribute Bachy-Lamprecht-Magnin - Tribute Günther Plass
Günther Plass, former CERN director of accelerators who made decisive contributions to the development and successful operation of many of CERN’s large facilities, passed away on 11 December, aged 90. Günther joined CERN in 1956, participating in the construction of the Proton Synchrotron (PS) as a member of the magnet group. With Berend Kuiper, he… Read more: Tribute Günther Plass - Tribute Horst Wenninger
As a CERN director, former president of GAC-EPA Horst Wenninger played key roles in the approval of the LHC and in firmly establishing knowledge transfer at CERN. A newly promoted middle manager at CERN was angry. Some of the personnel he had inherited was not performing and he would not be able to deliver equipment… Read more: Tribute Horst Wenninger - Tribute Albert Hofmann
Albert Hofmann died on the night of 28 December 2018. We all had the good fortune to share time with this wonderful person and were deeply saddened to hear of his untimely death. Albert finished his studies at ETH Zurich in the mid-sixties and then went on to work at the Cambridge Electron Accelerator (CEA)… Read more: Tribute Albert Hofmann - Tribute Susanne Muratori
Susanne Muratori passed away on 2 May 2018. Sad news for members of the former Track Chamber (TC), Experimental Facilities (EF), and the Accelerator Technology (AT) Divisions. Susanne Muratori joined the adventure of the formative years of CERN in 1955 following her studies at the “Ecole d’Interpretes”. She was first recruited at the Purchasing Office,… Read more: Tribute Susanne Muratori - Tribute Herbert Herz
A renowned member of the French Resistance was laid to rest on Sunday in Veyrier. (Tribune de Geneve, 2016-08-14) “Carnet noir”: Herbert Herz, Engineer at CERN, has died. A German Jew, he joined the French Resistance movement in 1942. Herbert Herz participated in operations to sabotage the Nazi war effort and the occupying forces. There… Read more: Tribute Herbert Herz - Tribute Berend Kuiper
Berend Kuiper arrived at CERN at the beginning of 1956, having graduated as an engineer from the prestigious Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands. At the time, the team led by John Adams and tasked with the construction of the PS was still housed in the barracks next to the Physics Institute of the… Read more: Tribute Berend Kuiper - Tribute Christian Roy
Christian Roy passed away on 31 January. He was 79 years old. His death has deeply touched all those who knew him during his long career at CERN. His close colleagues and his superiors knew his professional qualities and his extreme devotion to the Organization. But it is his qualities as a man that we… Read more: Tribute Christian Roy - Tribute Bruno Zotter
Bruno Zotter passed away on 22 December 2015. He was one of the leading theoretical accelerator physicists who made essential contributions in the recent period of development of particle accelerators after single-particle stability became well understood, and after which the interaction of the beams of increasing intensity with themselves and their environment moved into focus.… Read more: Tribute Bruno Zotter - Tribute François Wittgenstein
François Wittgenstein, well known for his work on generations of magnets at CERN, passed away on 1 May. François received his diploma as electrical engineer at the Technical University of Zürich (ETHZ) in 1955 at the age of 24. He started his career in industry by taking up a job with the Maschinen Fabrik Oerlikon… Read more: Tribute François Wittgenstein - Tribute Gert Günter Harigel
Dr. Gert Günter Harigel passed away on 23 September 2014 Gert Harigel studied physics at the Universities of Marburg and Würzburg, where he obtained his Ph.D with the topic: “Penetration of electrons through matter”, work performed with a bubble chamber, a newly developed detector in the early years of the 1960s. In 1965 he joined… Read more: Tribute Gert Günter Harigel - Tribute Dr. Jean-Paul Diss
It saddens us deeply to learn of the passing away of Jean-Paul Diss who died suddenly on 7 June 2012 at his home. Jean-Paul arrived at CERN in June 1965. At that time, the Director General, Prof. V. Weisskopf, decided that CERN should have its own occupational physician and Jean-Paul was the first to hold… Read more: Tribute Dr. Jean-Paul Diss - Tribute C.J. “Kees” Zilverschoon
CJZ was one of the first staff to join CERN, in May 1954 — when there existed no laboratory and only the beginnings of an organization, which was formally founded in September 1954. Most of those then coming to CERN left a well established position at home, choosing (as J. B. Adams said in an… Read more: Tribute C.J. “Kees” Zilverschoon - Tribute Paul Beynel
Paul joined the Radiation Group at CERN’s Laboratory II in March 1972. He carried out tests on materials and components that were used in the construction of the SPS. Following the commissioning of the SPS in 1975 and when the two laboratories were merged into one, Paul became a member of the Radiation Protection group.… Read more: Tribute Paul Beynel - Tribute René Oberli
(see version in French) - Tribute Malcolm Dykes
Malcolm Dykes had studied physics and mathematics at Liverpool University. In 1966 he came to CERN, joining the operation group of the 2 metre liquid hydrogen bubble chamber. Demands on engineering skills – both conventional and shrewd – were high in this new field of track chambers. The atmosphere in the group profited largely from… Read more: Tribute Malcolm Dykes - Tribute W. Owen Lock
Following a long and cruel illness, which he and his family bore with great fortitude, Owen Lock died on 19th March 2010. Owen was born on 8th August 1927 and grew up in Cirencester, England, where he attended Grammar School. In 1945, he won a State Scholarship to study physics at the University of Bristol,… Read more: Tribute W. Owen Lock - Tribute Jacques Billan
Jacques Billan came to CERN in 1969 as an Electronician Engineer and an Engineer of «Arts et Métiers». According to his vocational training he immediately took part in the conception and development of new magnetic measurement benches for the CERN magnets. His involvements have thus been essential in the biggest projects such as ISR, LEP… Read more: Tribute Jacques Billan - Tribute Georges Charpak
Message of René Cartier to François Wittgenstein (in French only) - Tribute François Louis
Message only in french below - Tribute Stuart SimpsonStuart Simpson — 1934-2009 Stuart Simpson died on 14th August 2009 after a courageous fight against cancer. Stuart was born and brought up in Lancashire and his first professional employment was with the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority at their Springfields plant near Preston. Here, Stuart worked in the Research Laboratories and gave technical assistance… Read more: Tribute Stuart Simpson
- Tribute Robert Muzelier
The sudden passing away of Robert Muzelier, on the 15th of February, has touched us profoundly. “Dear Robert, on the 6th of February you were still among us, participating in the activities of the GAC-EPA Committee; we scarcely imagined then that you would leave us so suddenly; we are in shock.” Robert entered CERN on… Read more: Tribute Robert Muzelier - Tribute Klaus Göbel
Klaus Goebel, an early leading figure in radiation protection at CERN, passed away on 1 October 2009. Klaus came to CERN in 1956 together with Wolfgang Gentner for whom he had worked as assistant from 1954-55, after gaining a diploma in economics and a doctorate in physics at the university of Freiburg, Germany. During these… Read more: Tribute Klaus Göbel - Tribute Karl Ley
Karl Ley entered CERN in 1957 and, after working for some time in the Central Workshop, joined Professor Antonino Zichichi’s Group in the NP (Nuclear Physics) Division as a mechanical technician. He had specialised in fine mechanics as a watchmaker from a technical school in Schwarzwald. Towards 1968 he became a member of the Technical… Read more: Tribute Karl Ley - Tribute James Allaby
It was with shock and sorrow that we heard Jim Allaby passed away on 7 April. Jim was born in Preston, England, in October 1936. After obtaining a first degree in physics at King’s College, London, he moved to Liverpool to study for his PhD at the university’s synchrocyclotron. This was his first proton-proton scattering… Read more: Tribute James Allaby - Tribute Gordon Munday
Gordon Lennox Munday was born in Birmingham in 1922. During the second world war he served in the Home Guard. After the war he worked for Philips, then he went to the University of Birmingham where he obtained a degree in physics and chemistry. In 1955, on the recommendation of a physicist friend, he joined… Read more: Tribute Gordon Munday - Tribute Paul Déchelette
Paul Déchelette passed away at the beginning of October. We were very many to bid him our last farewell, a sure sign of his popularity, of the friendship and respect he commanded well beyond the sphere of his work. After his youth days in Roanne (France) where he was born, Paul joined CERN in February… Read more: Tribute Paul Déchelette - Tribute Frank H. DOUGHTY
Frank joined CERN in 1957. As a young lad he had started at the bottom of the ladder and became an experienced specialist in high precision grinding at the UKAEA (United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority). At CERN he worked initially in the Central Workshop, then at the PS Linac. In 1962 he became the mechanical… Read more: Tribute Frank H. DOUGHTY - Tribute Henri Bertrand
Henri Bertrand, or Riquet as he was known to his friends and colleagues in the old NP Division, started working at CERN in 1963 in the Technical Assistance Group at the start of a new neutrino experiment. Officially a mechanic, he participated in a number of projects where he left the mark of his intelligence… Read more: Tribute Henri Bertrand - Tribute Ernst Hugi
We learned with great sadness that our colleague, Ernst Hugi, died on 8th March 2004. Following a period of technical work in India, Ernst Hugi joined the CERN’s Engineering Division during the early days of the laboratory. He worked on technical aspects of the PS where he was concerned with the installation and subsequent operation… Read more: Tribute Ernst Hugi - Tribute Antoine Magouriotis
(Tribute in French only) - Tribute Charles Peyrou
Charles Peyrou, who was one of the outstanding personalities at CERN for thirty years, passed away on 6 April 2003. Born in Oloron-Sainte-Marie (France) on 18 May 1918, Charles Peyrou studied at the Ecole Polytechnique, where he attended the first class given by Louis Leprince-Ringuet in 1936. Here, he was part of the small group… Read more: Tribute Charles Peyrou - Tribute Dave Warner
It was with great sadness that we learned that our friend and former colleague passed away on Christmas Eve. David J.Warner joined the CERN Linac Group of the Proton Synchrotron (PS) Division in 1965, already an accomplished accelerator physicist having worked on proton linacs at the University College in London and at Rutherford High Energy… Read more: Tribute Dave Warner - Tribute Leo Scherrer
When CERN was young and cryogenics was a new and mysterious activity, Leo Scherrer ensured the supply of liquid nitrogen, hydrogen and helium for virtually all CERN activities. He was head of the liquefier, and the liquefier grew up with him, thanks to his problem-solving gifts. Tenacious as he was, Leo succeeded in overcoming the… Read more: Tribute Leo Scherrer - Tribute Rolf Hagedorn
Rolf Hagedorn, who introduced the concept that hadronic matter has a melting point, died on 9 March 2003. After studies in Göttingen he came to CERN in Geneva in 1954 as an accelerator theorist. He joined the CERN Theory Group after its transfer in 1957 from Copenhagen to Geneva and he was a senior physicist… Read more: Tribute Rolf Hagedorn - Tribute Fred Asner
Our friend and colleague Fred Asner died 25 October in his 79th year after a long, cruel illness endured with courage and optimism. Coming from Zagreb in Croatia he obtained his diploma in engineering in 1951. Fred worked in Switzerland from 1955 onwards, obtaining a Doctorat ès Sciences Techniques at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale Zürich… Read more: Tribute Fred Asner - Tribute Georges Sarkissian
Georges Sarkissian has passed away on 20 November 2002 in his 87th year. He joined CERN at its very beginning (1954) and he organised there the Purchasing Service for which he remained largely responsible. During all the years until 1979 the Organisation has benefited from the vast experience and rich past of Georges Sarkissian. His… Read more: Tribute Georges Sarkissian - Tribute Renie Adams
Renie, Lady Adams, who died on 30 September, was the widow of Sir John Adams, a former Staff Member and Director-General of CERN. As a beneficiary of the CERN Pension Fund, she was a member of GAC and took an interest in its affairs. In 1998, Renie was elected as one of the Auditors of… Read more: Tribute Renie Adams
Last update, 15 December 2023