Mourning for Sydney Gales 1943 – 2024
03.12.2024 |
On November 29, 2024, Professor Dr. Sydney Gales passed away at the age of 81.
Sydney Gales was a distinguished French nuclear physicist and influential research organizer who rendered outstanding services beyond national borders to European and international cooperation in the field of nuclear physics and nuclear astrophysics research.
Close cooperation between GSI and GANIL as well as the nuclear physics institutes of the CNRS/IN2P3 and CEA were particularly important to Sydney Gales, as were the two lighthouse projects of the European nuclear physics community - FAIR in Darmstadt and SPIRAL II in Caen, the full realization of which he strongly supported. He was also involved in the development and realization of laser-driven nuclear physics research facilities as part of the European NP-ELI project in Romania, as well as in various nuclear physics institutes and projects in South Africa, Japan and Korea.
At GSI and FAIR, Sydney Gales has served on numerous advisory boards and committees; since 2017, as dedicated Chairperson of the G-PAC, he has been instrumental in establishing a balanced and successful FAIR Phase-0 experimental program under the difficult conditions of limited beam time. His expert advice will be missed in the future.
Sydney Gales received numerous high-ranking honors and awards for his achievements, including Chevalier de l'Ordre Orange de la Reine des Pays-Bas (1996), Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite (1997), Flerov Prize of the Joint International Institute for Research in Dubna, Russia, (2009), Elected Member of Academia Europaea (2012), Prix Félix-Robin (2014) and Chevalier dans l'Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur (2015).
GSI and FAIR bid farewell to Sydney Gales with great respect and deep gratitude. Our condolences go to his wife and family.
Management and Works Council of GSI and FAIR
