CERN celebrates André Martin’s 80th birthday

On 27 August 2009 CERN’s Main Auditorium was the venue for a celebration in honour of André Martin’s 80th birthday. Regarded as one of the most important theoretical physicists of his generation, André Martin is one of CERN’s most distinguished figures. The celebration began with a conference, followed by a concert and a reception.

After the conference, André Martin made an emotional speech looking back over his fifty-year career and paying tribute to all those who had made important contributions during his time at CERN. "I was extremely happy, and I am very touched by this marvellous celebration you have organised for me. It was a wonderful idea, and I very much enjoyed the concert of Blandine Eynaud and John Devore. My wife, Schu, and I love the music of Gabriel Fauré", he said at the end.

André Martin joined CERN in 1959 as a Fellow in the Theory Division and became a permanent CERN theorist in 1964. He was awarded the Gian Carlo Wick Gold Medal on 20 August 2007 in recognition of his work on the total cross-section for interactions between two particles and his contributions to the understanding of heavy quark-antiquark systems. He retired in 1994 but continues his work as a theoretical physicist at CERN.