Ellis, an eminent scientist...

I hope that Noriko will not mind if I share with Ellis’ friends, in this memorial blog, the letter that I sent to her on Monday, February 19. Allow me to attach to it a souvenir, an old picture taken during a 2008 trip to Japan, visiting then our colleagues from Taiheiyo Cement Company.

 

Chère Madame,

 

Hier, dans l’après-midi, j’ai appris par Danielle Sorrentino, la bouleversante nouvelle du décès de votre époux. J’ai du mal à y croire et, comme certainement vous-même et tous vos proches, d’accepter que Ellis ne sera plus là…

 

Ancien Directeur scientifique du Groupe Lafarge, j’ai beaucoup interagi avec Ellis jusqu’à ma retraite fin 2009. Nous avons fait des voyages lointains ensemble (ex. Japon, Etats-Unis) et participé à de nombreuses conférences scientifiques internationales. Ellis m’a toujours impressionné par sa passion pour la science, par ses très larges connaissances dans le domaine de chimie des matériaux cimentaires et, de manière générale, par sa capacité d’analyse et des propositions originales. Ses publications font référence et sont aujourd’hui abondamment citées. C’était l’un des meilleurs chercheurs du Laboratoire de Lafarge et c’est notamment grâce à Ellis que LCR connaît aujourd’hui un succès certain et est reconnu non seulement dans le monde industriel mais aussi dans le monde académique international.

 

Perdre son mari, et pour les enfants perdre leur père, est une épreuve très douloureuse, d’autant plus que la mort nous surprend de manière si inattendue. Cette épreuve demande à toute la famille énormément de courage; il y a peu de mots qui réconfortent. Que puis-je dire d’autre que de vous assurer que mes pensées sont avec vous et avec vos proches dans ces moments tellement difficiles ?

 

Recevez, chère Madame, l’expression de mes sincères condoléances et de toute ma sympathie.

 

Jacques Lukasik

 

 

 

Thank you for the intense and beautiful ceremony

Dear  Noriko, Maya, Yuma and Abi,

I wanted to thank you very much for the intense tribute you prepared for Ellis.

Everything was so well thought and beautiful!

It was really at the level of the image we keep from Ellis, full of delicacy, aesthetics and love.

I will never listen "bridge over trouble water" without thinking of you, Abi.

If by any action I could bring some warm to your pain, I would be very honored.

With all my warm regards,

Martin

Ellis, we will miss you

Ellis, is was such a pleasure to discuss with you, that it be for the width of your scientific culture,  the humor you brought in everything, your detailed views on political / social / cross-cultural questions.

As many, I was imagining that I would have plenty occasions to see you again, and that you would have a long time to go on exploring, discovering.

For me, Ellis was the combination of such a bright mind and a nice guy. All my sympathy to his family, I was so sorry not to be able to attend to the commemoration.

We will miss you Ellis.

Hélène Lombois-Burger

A great scientist, teacher and friend

Dear Noriko, Maya, Yuma and Abi,

 

Like others, I am absolutely shocked and saddened by the news. The last time I spoke with Ellis was just before Christmas when we discussed a paper we were working on and the PhD projects that we were going to supervise. Ellis also shared his long holiday plans. We were supposed to meet again last week. He was full of life. But life is so fragile and unpredictable.

 

It was a great privilege to have known Ellis for over fifteen years, first from his excellent scientific work, and then as prominent member of Nanocem and in recent years as visiting professor and colleague at Imperial College London. I had such a great time working with him. He gave very well attended lectures and co-supervised research students at Imperial. He was a dedicated teacher and very popular with students. They appreciated his friendly and relaxed manner, his vast knowledge and experience. I also thought that Ellis enjoyed interacting with students and the contributions he made at Imperial.

 

I will always treasure the long lunches and coffee breaks I had with Ellis. Of course we talked about science, the experiments we were going to do to test his new C-S-H theory and MgO cements. But we always digressed to other interesting things. I will miss his great sense of humour and pragmatic view of the world. I will also miss his warmth and generosity. His willingness to share knowledge and time. His honest views and frank assessments. Beyond scientific pursuits, he loved travelling and had a great passion for music. I know he was very happy to be able to travel more during retirement and to spend quality time with family. Through our many conversations, I also caught glimpses of a man who was entirely caring, affectionate and devoted to his family, and extremely proud of his children’s achievements.  

 

I will always value the time I spent with Ellis. He was an exceptional man, a brilliant scientist and a thoroughly nice guy. Ellis was an inspiration to many of us, a great mentor to many younger scientists like myself. He will be sorely missed.

 

My thoughts and condolences are with you and everyone who knew him.

 

Hong S Wong

Imperial College London

 

 

One of the top Researchers I had the chance to work with

Ellis,

When I was a PhD student, I read some of your very important papers. 

Then, when I joined the R&D center, it was a great pleasure to discuss with you cement hydration mechanisms. I was always impressed by your wide scientific knowledge, especially on chemicals, something that was (and still is) totally complicated for me.

Later, I remember a meeting in Switzerland where we have seen a lab demo using confidential products. You managed to discover almost all used products only by seeing how they reacted together, which allowed us to better negociate a partnership with this startup.

Finally, I remember all other good times, in the bus or during these "English Corner" sessions for which you provided us many good lessons of english humour.

I will miss you, Ellis

Emmanuel GUILLON

A greatly respected and appreciated friend

Ellis will truly be missed, both as a friend and as a colleague, for his humour, wisdom, and friendship. I really valued Ellis' generosity with young researchers in giving his expertise and insight so freely and openly. I learned a huge amount from speaking with him, and from listening to him offering his thoughts in committees and larger groups, as well as casually over a nice meal. He was one of the great advocates of innovation in cements, even where others didn't always share his vision or motivation to see innovation in practice - but always with a brilliant scrutiny and an eye for detail - if an idea passed Ellis' scrutiny, you could be sure that there was sense behind it. I saw him first from a distance, as one of the giants of the field when I was just starting out as a PhD student, but since then I have been able to get to know him as a friend and colleague, and I consider this to have been a great privilege.  

John Provis

Goodbye, my friend

Dear Ellis,

I was extremely sad when I heard the news.

We were exchanging emails the last few months, as you were encouraging me to finish writing up a long overdue paper on some unpublished data. Unfortunately, we just ran out of time together.

I'll miss our lunches together at LCR. Our conversations on the bus. Those white boarding sessions in your office. That sense of humor. That accent in French. 

I'll miss that we didn't have a chance to say goodbye. Take care, my friend.

Noriko, Bridgette and I are thinking of you and your family. Be strong. And cherish all the goodness that Ellis brought into your lives.

Jeff

--

Jeff Chen
Digital Manager | Growth & Performance
LafargeHolcim

Holcim Technology Ltd.
Im Schachen
CH-5113 Holderbank
Switzerland
Mobile +41 79 914 86 68
jeffrey.chen@lafargeholcim.com

Au revoir mon ami, mon mentor et mon ancien collègue, Ellis Gartner...avec ton grand et généreux sourire d'optimiste

"Ellis mon ami, j'ai appris ton décès soudain du VietNam où je suis en congés avec une profonde tristesse et bouleversement.

Je n'oublie jamais nos longues et riches discussions sur la chimie, le monde de la construction, le monde culturel, le monde tout court, nos enfants et familles.

Tu m'as reçu à bras ouvert dès le premier jour de mon arrivé à LCR. Combien de conseils précieux m'as tu donnés tout au long du temps que nous travaillions ensemble !

Ton sourire, ton regarde malice qui s'illumine chaque fois que nous parlions de l'innovation seront les images de toi que je garderai à jamais.

Au revoir mon ami et repose en paix

Ton ami Chiên"

A Noriko GARTNER, Maya, Yuma et Abi,

Je vous présente mes profondes condoléances et amitiés suite au décès d'Ellis.

Sachiez qu'il était un chimiste passionné et infatigable.

Lê-Chiên HOANG

Dr Lê-Chiên HOANG 

Specialist, Bio-Based Additives and Materials, Organic and Green Chemistry, Organic-Inorganic Interactions, Circulary Economy

Prospective Direction

LafargeHolcim R&D

95, rue du Montmurier - B.P. 15, 38291 Saint Quentin Fallavier Cedex France 

Phone: 33 (0)4 74 82 33 21 Mobile: 33 (0)7 62 76 64 75  

Email : le-chien.hoang@lafargeholcim.com 

www.lafargeholcim.com

A great friend

Ellis was near and dear to all of his friends at Solidia Technologies.  He was both our most vociferous critic and our staunchest supporter.  We will miss him dearly.

Over the years, the Solidia team and Ellis crossed paths around the world; in Paris, Lyon, London, Beijing and New Jersey.  Among the most noteworthy of these interactions came in April 2016, when Ellis presented the keynote address at the M. G. McLaren Lecture Symposium at Rutgers University. His talk, entitled "An Overview of Green Cement Technology" capped an afternoon in which he shared the podium with Richard Riman, Distinguished Professor of Materials Science at Rutgers and founder of Solidia, Vahit Atakan, Director of R&D at Solidia, and his good friend Jan Olek, Professor of Civil Engineering at Purdue University.

Attached is a photo of the four speakers (left to right, Riman, Atakan, Olek and Gartner).

Regards,

Nick DeCristofaro

Chief Technology Officer

Solidia Technologies

So long Ellis

Ellis, 

I'm so sad to hear you passed away. So suddenly. With still some many things to do, to think about. 

You were in full energy last May, when Pipat and I had seen you in Lausanne. You told us about your Brexit shame and Trump's election. You were going to apply for your French citizenship. You must have impressed the examiners with your perfect knowledge of the language and history of this country where you were living for more than 20 years. 

Personally, I first saw you in 1997, and then really met you in 2002, when you came to see us at the "Ecole des mines" of St Etienne. Jacques Moutte, who is also very attached to the Japanese community of Lyon, invited you. You appreciated the work done and the day, and you suggested that my CV be examined at the LCR. This is an example of your generosity, which I saw again when you accompanied students in their career. 

I'm trying to imagine the pain of your wife and children that you were talking about with pride. I'll come say goodbye tomorrow Saturday.

--

Blandine ALBERT

to Ellis

Hearing about your less has deeply saddened me. I blame myself of not managing to see you in last months. I was always thinking I had time to invite you over and nothing was urgent...

Ellis, your are my supervisor for master and thesis. The first paper that I read on construction material was written by you. It was you who brought me to the R&D of construction materials. 

I like your personality, humorous but serious, a little bite easy to get nervous but really easy going. It is also so difficult to ignore your British accent, even if you were speaking French. 

We passed so many moments together at work, on bus, after your concerts, in restaurants, in your house.. that I can't mention one by one. There were two moments that come to my mind first that I would like to share with your families:

- During one routing meeting in your office one afternoon, you showed me how to pure box packaged orange juice rightly into a cup, which I'm proud of demonstrating whenever I can. 

- Once on the bus head to Lyon, since you've been learning Japanese for a while, I asked you 'how was your Japanese going' and you answered 'oh, it is almost  gone completely!'

You will be missed and will never be forgotten, may your soul rest in peace. 

Your student, 

Qing Zhang 

Ellis – a very much appreciated colleague

Dear Ellis,

 

I first met you in October 2005 when joining LCR. You had already lived in France for quite some time and helped me understanding LCR, the French way, and cement and concrete science. I was impressed by your in-depth scientific knowledge and your humor. It sounds a bit like a contradiction, but yes - you managed to simultaneously disseminate to your audience scientific knowledge and your great humor.

 

A really strong point was your honesty which I appreciated and admired a lot. You would say if things were all right, and if things were not all right; without being resentful towards the ones who did wrong.

 

I wish you have found peace. My heart and thoughts are with your family.

 

Christian Artelt

 

Au revoir Ellis

Dear Ellis

I am so sorry to hear you passed away so early, without having the time to make the most of your retirement.

Your considerable scientific knowledge was widely recognised and you imparted it to our researchers here at LCR. They all learned so much from you.

I will always remember your witty sense of humour and the jokes we used to make in the office. We could always find a few minutes to have a good laugh.

My heart and thoughts go out to your wife and children and I am sure that you are watching them over from wherever you are now.

Rest in peace.

Françoise

Farewell Ellis

Each visit of Ellis at the library brought a smile on my face. He always had a humoristic word to describe his state of mind of the moment, even if it wasn't a good one... Sincere condolences to his family and relatives. All my sympathy to Noriko and Abi I had the opportunity to meet during a Lafarge trip in Sicilia

Michelle MARCHAND

Sometimes we meet persons who become important for you. Ellis is one of them for me. Ellis, deeply in his mind, was a researcher and a scientific and I have learned at his contact plenty of things; not only on the cement industry but also on other general subjects, his general knowledge was so large.

Ellis had a lot of very fine and subtle humor, able to use it in English but also in French. I was very impressed by the speed of Ellis to learn French when he joined our research laboratory.

Ellis, I say you goodbye but I will keep in my mind the important person that you were for me.

Serge Sabio

email: serge.sabio@lafargeholcim.com

It is so sad to say goodbye!

I cannot believe that it came so fast the time to say goodbye

I never told you how excited I was when you asked me to come to France. How much I learned during these few years working together. How much I enjoyed our discussions about life or gold mining in asteroids. How thankful I am that we have met.

It is so sad to say goodbye...

Nikolaos Vlasopoulos

A fantastic mentor!

Having been very close to Ellis during the last 4 years of his life at LCR I could appreciate how much he was happy to transfer some parts of his huge knowledge.

I had the privilege to have regular meetings (every 2 weeks) with him in the frame of a "mentoring" process. Each time I was selecting a topic of interest, preparing some questions and trying to understand the scientific information he was providing me with.

Sessions were always longer than planned and most of the time we were pursuing the discussion during lunch. But there we were more speaking about singing, what he we were rehearsing in our own choir and the future concerts . Discussion was always pleasant, full of humour and kindness.

I am sure that he brings a lot of happyness where he is now,

Martin Mosquet

hommage

Ellis est parti, un homme et un ami remarquable a disparu !

Tout au long de notre collaboration, Ellis a été une aide précieuse pour nous tous. Je garde le souvenir d’un homme compétent, sympathique, disponible et calme en toutes circonstances. Depuis quelques années, nous n'avions que peu de contacts mais dès qu’il a appris la terrible maladie dont je suis atteint, il est venu me voir régulièrement et ces derniers temps il m’a apporté toute son aide pour réaliser une publication à laquelle je tiens beaucoup, preuve supplémentaire de sa grande générosité. Dernièrement, il m'avait fait part au téléphone d'une très grande fatigue, je ne pouvais me douter que je n'entendrais plus jamais sa voix…

 

Bernard Clavaud

 

Ellis

It was a real privilege for me to have the opportunity to work with Ellis. He was hugely knowledgeable and a world leading authority on the cement industry. He combined detailed understanding of the industrial  issues involved, great understanding of the science with a desire to have impact and make change. Most importantly he was a thoroughly nice guy. I really value the time I spent with him. My condolences go out to all his friends and family.

 

Chris

 

Christopher Cheeseman | Professor of Materials Resources Engineering | Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering | 305 Skempton Building | Imperial College London | South Kensington campus | London SW7 2BU | T: +44 (0)20 7594 5971 | c.cheeseman@imperial.ac.uk | http://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/c.cheeseman

 

 

Bye Ellis

Fourteen years ago, a new arrival at LCR and in France, Ellis took me under his wing. It wasn't just work we did together or the advice he gave. There was something familiar and reassuring about working and socializing with this man, only a few years younger than my own father. Except I laughed a hell of a lot more with him. With Ellis came a torrent of smart jokes and this steady flow of play on words. Then there were the interesting facts, the discussion of the latest book he was reading and the parsing of the politics of the moment, general science and philosophy. And, of course, Ellis was the same person at work as well as away from it. Easygoing, fiercely intelligent, and an affectionate guy with his wife and kids, and even broader family, constantly on his lips. I'll miss him.

Dinos Xenopoulos

We will miss you

For people like me who started in the lab as a doctoral student some 20 years ago, Ellis has been over the years a teacher and a mentor on scientific issues and also a great colleague, with an ability to lighten up the mood in meetings with a joke (that you would have to catch on the spot because he was not looking for an audience - but he could not help it). He had a great sense of humour!

Before leaving for retirement, he made two conferences at LCR that were integrally recorded (see screen capture below). He was telling us about his personal life and science at the same time and it was great. Who could have thought he would leave for real so early. We were all so sure to see him again in scientific events for the many years to come.

​

I also remember some lunch breaks during which we would share something we had deeply in common, that is how proud we were of our daughters and sons. He loved his family so much (more than chemistry for sure, and coming from him it is not an understatement).

We will miss you.

Sandra

Impact well beyond his own imagination....

As we look at people that have been instrumental in Solidia's evolution as a company, Ellis is one of the most important contributors from LafargeHolcim. Ellis was the final technical 'assessment' for the company and without his endorsement, we would be in a very different place today.

I tell two stories about Ellis all the time. After an all day meeting during which Ellis grilled our CTO with question after question, LH's CTO asked Ellis if he had any other questions about the technology. Ellis slumped in his chair and with a very disappointed tone said, 'No. Scientifically, there is nothing left to prove. They have actually figured it out."

Following that meeting, Ellis spent a week with us to evaluate the state of the technology. During the week, we made, cured and tested everything that we knew how to make so that he could see that it actually could be done. At the end of the week, we were at a dinner in NYC and Ellis had not smiled or given us any indication of this opinion. When asked what he thought, he smiled for the first time and said, "it actually works!" He then spent the rest of the evening telling us jokes with his very dry English sense of humor.

For us, he was the one of the most intellectually honest, ethical researchers I have ever met. We tried to engage him after his retirement because he offered such a refreshing view of our technology that you can't often get when you work with it everyday. As we got to know him better, we found him to also be a caring, funny man who's concern for his family far outweighed anything cement and concrete had to offer.

During times like this, there are no magic words that can suddenly make Ellis' passing more acceptable, but hopefully the memories that are shared in this blog will serve as a gentle reminder of his legacy and the impact he had on others. He had an impact on me and on our company that we will never forget.

Tom Schuler
President and CEO
Solidia Technologies, Inc.

A great mentor...

Dear Ellis.

We know each other almost since I started my career with Lafarge 22 years ago, but it is really years later, when I started to work on CO2 around 2010 and I got involved with the Scientific Direction that we really interacted on a more frequent basis... and looking back, I am wondering if I told you enough how grateful I am for all the things you taught me. You were for me a great mentor. 

I am happy we stayed in touch after you retired. Recently, we communicated a lot as we were trying to help Bernard Clavaud on his theory about the big Egyptian pyramids... but now that you are up there and you probably know the truth!

Thank you Ellis!

Laurent Barcelo 

Ellis,

I was really impressed by your technical skills in a very large domain of expertise. 

& I really enjoyed the french sounding of the word "temperature" when it was coming out of your mouth ;-)

Rest in peace

My deepest condolences to the family

David R.

Souvenirs

Dear Ellis,

I will never forget when, sitting next to me in a management meeting, you were happy to tell me a little joke very discretely and very British just to make the atmosphere lighter and more friendly. 

I also remember your beautiful concert in Lyon, where you were so proud to present your passion for the choir. 

Always humble and always there to help. Thank you.

A toute la famille, je suis de tout cœur avec vous depuis les usa, et je vous présente mes sincères condoléances,

Amitiés,

Nathalie

Last souvenir

Ellis,

My last souvenir is the sound of your smile last time you came in LCR as "invited".

Actually, you were not invited : you are part the walls of LCR Ellis, so they diffuse your scientific aura.

Hats off to you Ellis,

Fabrice Pourcel

A dear colleague and a worldwide expert

Dear Noriko, Maya, Yuma and Abi,

 

I learned the very sad news on Sunday. Your husband and father was an exceptional man and brilliant scientist.

 

I had known Ellis for nearly 20 years at Lafarge. We worked more closely together during the period 2008 – 2011. I was really impressed by his unique expertise in the cement industry : not many scientist can claim to know both the production and the cutting edge research in our field ! Ellis was one of the very few to have successfully filed patents leading to industrial applications and actually selling!

Ellis had a wide breath of knowledge in the cement chemistry and was able to bring some sense to the organic and mineral interactions, while applying thermodynamics.

We had a very special time together when we looked at the many emerging start-ups in the CO2 field around 2008. Ellis had a very sound expert judgement but was open enough to look for opportunities and to imagine combinations or further developments.

The last time when I saw Ellis was around 2 years ago during a dinner for his retirement. He was happy to be able to travel and enjoy more time with his dear family while keeping contributing to science with Imperial College and Nanocem.

I contacted him 10 days ago as I would have loved to meet again now that I am more available here in Lyon. In particular, I would have loved to know him and his so diverse family better. He answered that he was not feeling well but I was not expecting such a sad outcome.

 

With my deepest and most sincere thoughts,

 

Pascal Casanova

Former R&D director at Lafarge

A unique character

I met Ellis for the first time in 1996 when he was leaving USA, while I was coming to this country for a sabbatical stay with my family. At this time I did not know that 15 year after, we would have a 5-year companionship at LCR Scientific Directorate. Ellis was selling a gigantic Ford Taurus Station Wagon, that I found suitable to bring my wife and my four kids through Maryland and Virginia. The car, who had already been driven for 260,000 miles, only failed in the very last week of our American year, so it was worth its $1,800 !

In 2011 when I joined LCR, he was a respected Scientific Director in Chemistry, and I had a much pleasant time working with him, in spite (or because) of my very low gifts for this science. He taught me many things not only in the wide domain of non-Portland cements, including of course Aether, but in a wide array of other topics, where he always displayed a deep culture and mind openness. We shared also the responsibility of assessing innovative ideas proposed by our colleagues, and this gave us opportunities for many interesting discussions. With our missed colleague Gilles Chanvillard, and the other experts (Laurent, Pierre-Henri and Martin), it was the great time of the LCR Scientific Directorate.

With Ellis I shared also a passion for music, and I had the pleasure to attend several concerts of his choir. I know he was very serious in attending the rehearsals and, yes, the result was there...

Ellis retired from LCR two years ago. Since this date, we miss very much his scientific knowledge and his legendary British humor. I will keep the memory of an excellent scientist and a very good friend. I am extending my deepest condolences to his family, but I want to assure it can be proud of him as a scientist and a man.

François de Larrard

Scientific Director

LCR