On January 11, 2022, Marcelle Gaune-Escard passed away.
Marcelle Gaune-Escard was a significant contributor to the science community
throughout her impressive and distinguished career. With her background in
thermodynamics and calorimetry of molten salts, Marcelle’s dedication to disseminating
scientific knowledge to the academic community is portrayed through 350 international
publications, acting as editor of several books and guest editor of various journals. In
addition, she has passed on her extensive scientific knowledge, shaping the careers of
15 Ph.D. students, numerous post-doctoral as well as many visiting researchers.
Her endeavours were highly recognized by the science community as she received
prominent awards such the Certicate of Proficiency (University of Cambridge, UK), the
Gold Assayer by La Monnaie de Paris in 1976, and “Max Bredig Award” in 2004 granted
by the USA Electrochemical Society. Notably, the EUCHEM conference on Molten Salts
and Ionic Liquids in her home country, Tunisia, in 2006 was dedicated to Marcelle which
assembled 53 international scientific leaders and contributors.
Her involvement in many scientific societies such as the International Union of Pure and
Applied Chemistry, International Council for Science: Committee on Data for Science
and Technology, and the International Thorium Molten-Salt Forum, just to name a few
of many, exemplified her strong commitment to advancing science academia. Through
her extensive professional network, she was a well-known academic in her field in over
14 countries across Europe, Asia, and America which enabled her to assemble
scientists from around the world through cooperative research projects as well as
conferences that she took the imitative to organize.
Her professional successes extend far beyond the above and she has left a lasting
impact on both the academic sphere as well as FLOGEN Star Outreach. FLOGEN had
the privilege dedicate the 2017 Gaune-Escard International Symposium to Marcelle, as
well as award her with the Fray International Sustainability Award at FLOGEN SIPS
2019, an award reserved for the highest esteemed scientists that have attended our
conferences.
Marcelle has brightened not only the science community with her admirable
contributions, but the hearts of many such as her husband, her two children, and her
two grandchildren in Marseille, France. FLOGEN has been honoured to work closely
with Marcelle, and we will continue to honour Marcelle through recognizing scientists
who make contributions as significant as hers. We will be eternally grateful for her kind
heart, her bright mind, and her lasting impact.
Dr. Florian Kongoli
FLOGEN Chairman
The video of her award ceremony is given here:
The video Award Ceremony of Prof Marcelle Gaune-Escard at SIPS 2019. Dr Florian Kongoli, President of SIPS and President of FLOGEN, presides upon the official ceremony
In Memoriam: Dr. Florian Kongoli, President of SIPS and President of FLOGEN, celebrating the life and work of Professor Marcelle Gaune-Escard.
MESSAGE OF CONDOLENCES
It is also with great sadness that I join you on this condolences message. Please, convey my
most sincere condolences to her family and colleagues. Although I did not know Prof. Gaune-
Escard personally, I was very happy to see her honoured during the SIPS meeting in Cyprus. No
doubt that she left us too early.
Jean-Marie Dubois
President, Académie Lorraine des Sciences
Associate/Member: Stanislas Academia/European Science Academy and Slovenian Academy of Engineering
Sorry to hear the sad news. My heartfelt condolences.
Judy Jeevarajan
Research Director at Underwriters Laboratories Inc.
I received this very sad news from one of Marcelle’s colleagues shortly after she died. We have
lost a great colleague, scientist and friend. We will all miss her knowledge, enthusiastic
contributions and scientific insights at our meetings.
Stuart Mucklejohn
Project Manager at Ceravision Limited
My most sincere condolences to her family, all her relatives, her friends and colleagues.
Georges Denes
Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Thank you for making and sending me the nice video for Marcelle. Very moving video especially
for me that we knew each other from the 1972 as young scientists both working on the
enthalpies of mixing of molten salts (me in Chicago- her in Marseille).
George Papatheodorou
FORTH Distinguished Member
Professor Emeritus Dept. of Chemical Engineering at Univeristy of Patras, Greece
This is a great loss for science and education. She has always supported us.
Essen Suleimenov
Kazakh British Technical University, Kazakhstan
I have not had the opportunity to meet with her for the past few years as we have only exchanged cards and I have not been able to visit Marseille. I regret that I have not met Marcelle, as we have been friends for a long time.
There are very few female researchers in the field of molten salt, so it is a great loss. I feel depressed that the molten salt community is losing so many talented people these days. I would like to pray for the repose of her soul.
Yasuhiko Iwadate
Professor emeritus of Chiba University, Japan
Please accept my deepest condolences on passing the outstanding and distinguished scientist
Professor Marcelle Gaune-Escard.
This is the great loss for all international scientific community.
The outstanding results of the bright scientific studies by Professor Marcelle Gaune-Escard and her unique scientific school on ionic melts are the great contribution to high temperature materials chemistry.
Thank you very much for the honour to be invited to SIPS2022 dedicated to Professor Marcelle Gaune-Escard memory.
Stolyarova Valentina
Corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Saint Petersburg State University, Russia
My colleagues and me had the talks with Marcelle in 1998 (Porquerolle, France),
2000 (Bratislava, Slovakia), 2006 (Tunisia).
She has sent us the Christmas cards, which she had made herself.
Students of the Chemical Department of the Buryat University (Ulan-Ude, Republic Buryatia)
expressed sincere sympathy to the relatives and friends of Professor Marcelle Gaune-Escard:
"We are little acquainted with the work of the Professor, but we are sure that this person
occupies an important place in the scientific community".
My family, colleagues and students will always remember and miss Professor Marcelle Gaune-
Escard.
(It is a common practice to translate into the Russian the video-interviews of Dr. F. Kongoli with the prominent scholars in the students’ courseworks at the Chemical Department of the Buryat University)
Vasily Lutsyk
Head of Materials CAD Sector, IPMS SB RAS, and professor of Banzarov Buryat State University, Russia
