Memories of the unforgettable Pierre Vérin (1934-2010)

My first meeting with Professeur Pierre Verin, in Paris in 1987, was apparently typical of most first encounters with the man. And, in retrospect, revealed much about him. I arrived in Paris with nothing more than a bachelor’s degree and a note from a distant American colleague of Pierre, but he instantly welcomed me to his newly created research center, Ceroi, at 2, rue de Lille. In his opening salvo of a monologue, he proudly sketched the recent history of this center he had created from no...