12-11 2020 10:48
wrote:
We lossed an exceptional colleague . Gert-Jan was the best friend of my professional life in genetics. I admired and enjoyed its cleverness, his culture, his creativity, his open-mindness. He opened many doors to many people in many areas, instead of fighting for artificial leadership in his own field. He was a paradigmatic world-class scientist, with an insatiable curiosity and enthousiasm, regardeless of potential personal rewards. The world would be better if populated at his image.
I really discovered his humanity at the European School of Human Genetics in Sestri-Levante, in 1992. He was always surrounded by myriads of students, loving his conversation and his joy of life. he was not the last one to dance at night, after having given a beautiful scientific talk. Since, I watched his personal professional development and learned a lot on how to develop a field and build collaborations with scientists from other fields, to enlarge the vision and pave the way for useful innovations. The two of us were convinced of the importance building up the ESHG. We exchanged often about it, Gert-Jan as editor-in-chief of the EJHG and me, as chair if the PPPC. Again I was amazed by his capacity to be both visionary and caring about people. This combination is precious for developing innovative approaches at the service of real, necessary goals. Very often, when someone is able to give so much, it is because this person is not alone in life, but cleverly supported by a companion. Behind Gert-Jan, there was Ria. Thank you Ria.
As a friend, he was just delicious, untertaining, simple and direct. I will miss him a lot.
12-11 2020 10:48
wrote:
We lossed an exceptional colleague . Gert-Jan was the best friend of my professional life in genetics. I admired and enjoyed its cleverness, his culture, his creativity, his open-mindness. He opened many doors to many people in many areas, instead of fighting for artificial leadership in his own field. He was a paradigmatic world-class scientist, with an insatiable curiosity and enthousiasm, regardeless of potential personal rewards. The world would be better if populated at his image.
I really discovered his humanity at the European School of Human Genetics in Sestri-Levante, in 1992. He was always surrounded by myriads of students, loving his conversation and his joy of life. he was not the last one to dance at night, after having given a beautiful scientific talk. Since, I watched his personal professional development and learned a lot on how to develop a field and build collaborations with scientists from other fields, to enlarge the vision and pave the way for useful innovations. The two of us were convinced of the importance building up the ESHG. We exchanged often about it, Gert-Jan as editor-in-chief of the EJHG and me, as chair if the PPPC. Again I was amazed by his capacity to be both visionary and caring about people. This combination is precious for developing innovative approaches at the service of real, necessary goals. Very often, when someone is able to give so much, it is because this person is not alone in life, but cleverly supported by a companion. Behind Gert-Jan, there was Ria. Thank you Ria.
As a friend, he was just delicious, untertaining, simple and direct. I will miss him a lot.