We indeed lost a true giant, on whose shoulders many stood to achieve their success and many more will yet stand. >From just a few in-person Interactions with George and a few direct emails, his sense of humor, kindness and humility were just as impressive, as his scientific genius. I am sure he influenced great many with his personality and character as much, or more, as with his scientific advise. We are all saddened. Nukri
On Sat, Feb 22, 2025, 05:21 Isabel Uson < 0000cb655fae2581-dmarc-requ...@jiscmail.ac.uk> wrote: > Dear Colleagues, > > > > it is with a heavy heart, that we must announce the passing of George > Michael Sheldrick. > > Everyone in crystallography knows George as a giant in the development of > computing methods despite his unassuming manner. His SHELX programs for > structure solution and refinement have shaped the field and their use has > been key to innumerable projects. The same is valid for his contribution to > data processing and analysis in the programs he wrote for Bruker detectors. > Only those young to crystallography will have missed that while typically > our papers are scored by the impact factor of a journal, one paper of > George rocketed the impact factor of the journal Acta Crystallographica A > from 2.05 to 54, surpassing that of Science, Nature or Cell in the year > 2010. This establishes how many scientific projects must have been aided by > George´s insightful work and bright solutions. > > Those of us who have had the privilege to meet George in person also know > him for his passion for problem solving, originality, sense of humour and > deep humanity. > > > > George has touched the lives and careers of so many group members, > providing a work environment that was simultaneously sheltered and free. He > was always receptive to our ideas, encouraging our independence, providing > the means to support them and giving us credit for what we accomplished. At > the same time, we were spared the financial worries or conflicts attached > to any institute. If Goethe was right in writing that character is built in > the tempest of life while talent requires the calm, George shaped the > optimal environment to develop our talents. An unusual trait of George is > that he always pondered what people said, not who said it. Experience shows > that humans are more ready to value what their friends, allies and > referents state as being correct and search for reasons why their > competition must be wrong! This lack of prejudice may explain why George´s > research group was always most diverse: he gave everyone fair opportunities. > > In lectures, talks or conversations, George would explain complicated > concepts making them come across as compellingly simple. His teaching would > always prompt critical thinking, as when he faked a nuclear explosion > producing a mushroom in his chemistry lecture with experiments. This was > the 80´s and half of the audience started an *im promptu *demonstration > against nuclear power before being absorbed in the debate of why this was > impossible and the analysis of what experiment had really taken place. > > Working with George was inspiring and fun, it covered a broad range of > interests in chemistry, geology and biology evolving along the years. In > Cambridge and Göttingen, George closely supervised more than a hundred > theses. Former students and co-workers would frequently stop in Göttingen > and pop up to join the coffee time, where daily group discussions would > take place. Many of us have kept in touch ever since, resorted to him for > advice or just for the pleasure of discussing science and puzzling problems. > > George Sheldrick will be missed. > > Regine Herbst-Irmer and Isabel Usón > > If you would like to express your condolences to George´s family, please > use the following email address: a.sheldr...@gmx.de > > > -- > ICREA Res. Prof. Isabel Usón > Crystallographic Methods > Department of Structural and Molecular Biology, > Molecular Biology Institute of Barcelona, Spanish Research Council; > Barcelona Science Park, Helix Building, 08028 Barcelona (Spain) > http://chango.ibmb.csic.es/ARCIMBOLDO > http://shelx.uni-goettingen.de > > ------------------------------ > > To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 > ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1 This message was issued to members of www.jiscmail.ac.uk/CCP4BB, a mailing list hosted by www.jiscmail.ac.uk, terms & conditions are available at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/
