Scientists and Their Pursuit of Excellence: Crossroads and Gateways (or Who is Who in the Festschrift)

Abstract

This editorial contains brief sketches of the contributors to this Festschrift, their photographs and their role in the scholarly career of Ivan Lefkovits. Some time ago, I gave Ivan the book Six Degrees [1] as a present in which the interconnection of people at various social levels has been described. The essence of the book is that social structures exhibit clustering – the tendency of two persons who share a mutual friend to be friends themselves. The title of the book implies that people of this planet are so closely connected that any person is only six connection steps away from any other person. Ivan and I discussed the implication of this claim in science, and the list of people below is, in a certain sense, an example of the ‘Six Degrees’ concept. Ivan who is an avid reader of ‘everything’ and especially of the ‘sensical’ and ‘non-sensical’ nature of my reading lists reacted to the Six Degrees by pointing that the Hungarian mathematician Erdös [2] defined the so-called ‘Erdös number’[2] (if you have published an article with Erdös, you get to have an Erdös number one. If you haven't published an article with Erdös but you have written one with someone who has, then you have an Erdös number of two. And so on.). Because Ivan would feel uneasy to introduce the notion of an ‘Ivan number’, but both he and I would feel certainly comfortable with introducing the ‘Jerne number’, then Ivan and two contributors to this Festschrift have a ‘Jerne number’ one, and almost everybody else on the list ‘Jerne number’ two. The scientific progress of Ivan Lefkovits has some parallels with the progress of immunology. A career, such as Ivan's, arguably began sometime in the middle of his third decennium and concluded with his ‘retirement’ in the middle of his seventh decennium. In the progress of cellular immunology, this roughly coincides, in the beginning, with the realization of the role of T and B lymphocytes in inducible immunity (1966) and the invention of the assay for individual antibody-forming cells. The retirement of Ivan coincides with the ‘omics’ revolution with its tidal wave of information. It is striking that this period of time roughly correlates with the founding and eventual termination of the Basel Institute of Immunology (BII). Ivan has been identified with that same institution during its entire existence, from being a founding member with Niels Jerne to being the last to retire from the institution, bring in the flag and turn out the lights. The topics of interest and endeavour of Ivan begin with clonal analysis and the interaction of cells of the immune system, progressed to a molecular analysis of the components of the immune system and, with use of molecular genetics, to accomplish unique measurements of the expression of the molecules associated with immunity. In short, Ivan and his laboratory have been pioneering in the application of biology to the understanding of the immune system. He might have been more famous if only he had chosen the word ‘proteomics’ instead of ‘proteinpaedia’. The sequential order of contributions in this volume is quasichronological. It is not in the order that Ivan Lefkovits met his colleagues and friends, but rather as they interacted scientifically, collaborated and mutually influenced each other. The contributors – each in a different way – played a crucial role in Ivan's life. Claudia Henry is the only scientist from the pre-BII era who has contributed. Claudia, a close colleague of Niels Jerne, was the first scientist to teach Ivan immunology. Three contributions to this volume mark Ivan's sabbatical periods in Oxford, Paris and Rotterdam and two articles reflect the long-term, quasisabbatical participation in the life of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague – in the period after the ‘velvet’ revolution, 1989. The list of friends and colleagues in Basel is long, and some of the most influential ones are not alive anymore – Niels Jerne, Charley Steinberg, Georges Koehler, Max Schreier, Berenice Kindred, Ethel Jacobson, Ruggero Ceppelini, Tommy Meo…. This Festschrift is of a comfortable size. Not too big, not too small. Neither too heavy nor trivial. The work is neither trying to be complete nor anecdotal. It is meant to be, and hopefully it is, a fair Poissonian sample of Ivan's world. Claudia Henry Claudia Henry (Fig. 1) was a close colleague of Niels Jerne. She witnessed and decisively contributed to the development of the methodology of identification of individual antibody-forming cells in Pittsburgh. Alan Nordin and Niels Jerne's seminal study in Science was the starting point, and this was followed by a number of contributions on the identification of IgG-producing cells, on the augmenting effect of IgM and the inhibitory effect of IgG. Claudia Henry readily followed Niels Jerne from Pittsburgh to Frankfurt, because this would be a follow-up scientific position in Germany where she had worked earlier in Tuebingen. The Paul-Ehrlich Institute was happy to welcome Niels' new team, which consisted of Hiroshi Fuji and Claudia Henry, and with which Ivan Lefkovits teamed up after the 1967 EMBO course. Claudia was highly influential to Ivan's further career, even after she left for California in early 1968. Ivan visited her in Berkeley, and Claudia made several visits to Ivan's laboratory. The large methodological study on plaque-forming cells compiled by Ivan was largely written by Claudia. Claudia Henry. Claudia's daughter Cassis is an MD, a very socially conscious young lady, who at the time of writing this Festschrift was working under extremely tough conditions in Haiti with ‘Partners in Health’. Claudia lives at Lake Tahoe, in retirement, but remains in close contact with friends everywhere. Theophil Staehelin Although, in most instances, the history of encounters with Ivan starts at the BII in 1970 or later, or in some instances at the 1967 EMBO course, the circumstances with Theophil Staehelin (Fig. 2) are different. Theo and Ivan met at the Cold Spring Harbor Symposium 1966 (The Genetic Code). Hans Noll, a frequent guest at the International Laboratory of Genetics and Biophysics in Naples, Italy, knew Ivan from Naples where he held a fellowship, and he introduced Ivan to Theo. It was only later that Ivan learnt from Niels and Claudia that Theo was their friend from the Pittsburgh years. Therefore, it was not surprising for Ivan to discover Theo's name on the list of scientists Jerne recruited for the permanent staff of the BII. Theo was one of three or four scientists who already joined the BII at the stage before the completion of the BII building, the arrangements for which were Ivan's responsibility. Theophil Staehelin. Theo and his wife Gaby returned after many years in the US to their home town Basel, and they were (besides the family of Johann-Rudolf and Nelly Frey) among those Basler families, which gave Ivan and Hana a feeling of being welcomed in this country. Theo continued his work on the regulation of protein synthesis, and on initiation factors. When Prof. Alfred Pletscher, Director General of Hoffmann-La Roche, proposed that Theo Staehelin and Ruggero Ceppellini build up an immunologically oriented research group with the focus on monoclonal antibodies at Hoffmann-La Roche, Theo felt that he could not refuse this request. He was very successful at Roche and made crucial contributions to the development of important immunological diagnostic test kits, to the interferon project and, may be most importantly, to the realization of the Western Blot with Harry Towbin and Julian Gordon. However, after Alfred Pletscher had left the company, Theo felt that he did not obtain the expected support. Therefore, he joined Georges Koehler in his new laboratory in Freiburg. Some years later, he continued his career at Ciba-Geigy from where he retired several years ago, but remained not only actively ‘interested’ in science, but just recently he joined Ivan on a new research project. Alma L. Luzzati Alma Luzzati (Fig. 3) is originally from Turin, and her career led her to Basel for 7 years, after which she returned to Italy. She held a distinguished research position at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità in Rome until her retirement. She moved recently from Rome to Milan. Alma was on the teaching staff at the 1967 EMBO course in Frankfurt where Ivan became acquainted with her. At that time, neither of them knew that their paths would cross again a few years later in Basel. In Basel, she teamed up with Ben Pernis, and very soon this resulted in a close collaboration with Ivan. Alma's experience with the culture system of rabbit lymphocytes (with the availability of precious reagents from her laboratory) and her precise and careful work fitted very well with Ivan's research projects. A number of solid studies (some of them co-authored with Ben Pernis) on allelic exclusion and on the clonal properties of allelic expression resulted. The work with Ivan was also an impetus for Alma's research projects in her laboratory in Rome. Scientific interaction and friendship between Ivan and Alma continues to this day. Alma L. Luzzati. Herman Waldmann Herman Waldmann (Fig. 4) has been Chairman of the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology in Oxford since 1996. He studied in Cambridge where he took all the important steps in his career until he became the Kay Kendall Professor of Therapeutic Immunology, and Head of the Immunology Division, which had been established by Robin Coombs. Herman's professional contact with Ivan Lefkovits dates back to 1972, with many alternating visits of Herman to Basel and Ivan to Cambridge. Herman Waldmann. Herman spent half a year in Ivan's laboratory in Basel, and he helped to shape the idea of limiting dilution becoming a versatile tool to be used in many laboratories of basic and clinical science. Herman's input is apparent from the fact that the first edition of the monograph on Limiting Dilution Analysis was published by Cambridge University Press while Herman held his position in Cambridge, and the second edition was brought out by Oxford University Press after he had moved to his final destination at the Dunn School. Ivan enjoyed Herman's hospitality, not only privately but also at King's College Cambridge and Lincoln College in Oxford. During Ivan's sabbatical year in Oxford, he was elected a member of the Common Room of Lincoln College, the main benefit being the ‘dining rights’. In order to understand the essence of Herman's successful career, one should mention that he made the right decisions at the right times: having a sabbatical with Cesar Milstein, establishing an academic facility for the manufacture of ‘humanized’ monoclonal antibodies, establishing a biotechnology company to enable the induction of therapeutic tolerance, and last but not least achieving ‘sustainable growth’ of the Dunn School. Herman is married to Judie and they have three sons. When the youngest son left home, Judie turned her hobby of photography into a profession and is achieving wide recognition. Lucien Aarden While Niels Jerne and Jochem van Loghem discussed the essence of differences between the BII in Basel and the CLB in Amsterdam, they agreed that a promising young scientist – Lucien Aarden (Fig. 5) – should apply for BII membership. Lucien joined the BII in 1977 where he added to his knowledge of autoantibodies with his hands-on experience in cellular immunology. Lucien keeps saying that the BII made a deep impact on him, but he clearly made a profound impact on the institute. Not only that within a few months did he gain a lot of new friends at the BII, but he also started to arrange visits of BII members to Amsterdam, for seminars, but also for various courses. He became a valued member of Ivan's laboratory not only because he helped to define new projects and new approaches, but because of his critical Geist. Every so often he looked at the titration curves, and said that he ‘reads the curve’ in a different way. After 3 years in Ivan's laboratory, Lucien returned to Amsterdam where he formed a research group of a considerable size. He surrounded himself with young people, continued his contact with Basel and was ready to join Ivan's effort after the 1989 ‘velvet revolution’ to help the development of science in Eastern Europe. At the already mentioned Summer Schools, he became the ‘most wanted’ person, not only because of his friendly personality, but also because of his willingness to provide help after the courses by giving the participants precious reagents, taking them into his laboratory and showing the world that altruism and tough science are compatible endeavours. Lucien Aarden. Never-ending discussions with Ivan on science, culture and politics formed the basis for their friendship. J. Richard L. Pink Richard Pink (Fig. 6) was recruited to the BII in the very early stages, months before the Institute opened in 1970. It was Ita Askonas from Mill Hill who alerted Niels to the young scientist who was working at that time with Hugh Fudenberg in California. Richard joined the BII, left after several years and rejoined again later. Richard is one of the few scientists who had two independent appointments at the BII and two appointments at Hoffmann-La Roche, Basel. He is a true encyclopaedia of knowledge of basic and clinical immunology and also neurophysiology. The ease with which he changed from project to project (in some instances not on his own free will), from species to species, from laboratory science to desktop science, is proof of his multitalent. Although Ivan started his work on proteomics more than two decades ago, Richard had been doing 2D-gel electrophoresis much earlier than that. J. Richard L. Pink. Richard might have considered returning to the UK, but he did not take that step, probably because of the strong francophone affinities of his wife Françoise. Françoise and Richard live near Lausanne and have two daughters and a son. Richard, on retirement, started working for the WHO, advising them on vaccination and drug discovery for tropical diseases. Louis Du Pasquier Louis Du Pasquier (Fig. 7) was on Niels Jerne's very first list – February 1969 – of prospective members of the Institute that Niels was just about to establish. On the list, there were several of the participants (teachers and students) of the 1967 EMBO course that Niels organized at the Paul-Ehrlich Institute in Frankfurt. Louis was sceptical of the clonal selection theory and he had musical skills (playing flute). Both these attributes made him an ideal candidate for a position at the BII. Louis and Ivan met for the first time at the EMBO course (see also Claudia, Alma and Blanka) in 1967. Three years later, Louis became the youngest permanent member of the BII, and he became a faithful friend and colleague of Ivan. Louis is one of the last universal talents – in science, music, art, writing (an unpublished novel) and more than anything he is a good friend. Louis participated in all the Summer Schools that Ivan organized, he made a drawing of Niels Jerne for a BII Annual Report, a portrait of Charley Steinberg for his retirement album, and also the dust jacket for this Festschrift. Louis Du Pasquier. Louis is married to Jacqueline. They have two daughters – Juliette and Aline; both of them are highly talented musicians. Juliette played the violin at the ceremony held at the first anniversary of Niels Jerne's death, whereas Aline sung at Charley Steinberg's retirement symposium. Harald von Boehmer Harald's (Fig. 8) career actually started in Australia. From there, he joined the BII. He was first interested in T- and B-cell subpopulations obtained by means of electrophoretic separation, but soon his interest shifted towards thymus-derived cell populations. Werner Haas teamed up with Harald and a period of very prolific work started. Roughly at the time when Harald's contract was about to be discussed in terms of prolongation, the first permanent member position became available. It was Harald to whom Niels Jerne offered this position. Harald is an outspoken person. He might be reserved on occasion, but a glass of good Burgundy can catalyse a very frank exchange of opinion. In many instances, whether with Niels Jerne or with other friends and colleagues, the purgatory and cathartic exchange of opinions helped clear the air. Harald spent an important sabbatical year at MIT in Boston and received an extremely attractive offer to stay there. He accepted, but then stepped back, remained in Basel, finally accepting a prestigious position at the Necker Institute in Paris. For many observers, it looked as if this would be his final position, and this looked especially convincing as Harald and Monika bought a beautiful house near Fountainbleau, in which Monika invested an enormous effort to make it look even more beautiful. At the same time, after a few years, Harald surprised the scientific world by performing a final? leap over the ocean to his new position at Harvard. Monika and Harald again bought a beautiful house, which is now their permanent residence, at least for as long as Harald's scientific career keeps him there. However, it is beyond doubt that both Monika and Harald are very European, and that they will come back to Europe one day. Their three children seem to be planning their future in the Old World. Harald von Boehmer. Harald and Ivan are very different, but still there is a complementary attitude in their interactions. Harald spontaneously invited Ivan to spend a sabbatical period in Paris, and since then they meet regularly in Prague, Burgundy, Boston and Basel, and lately of course they met in Montreal. There is an additional aspect. In silence, Harald read the book written by Ivan's mother, and in silence Ivan read the book describing the fate of Harald's father, Hasso von Boehmer. It is a friendship between Harald and Ivan, between Monika and Hana and mutual respect of the events 60 years ago. Ron Corley While at BII, Ron Corley (Fig. 9) had an ongoing collaboration with Berenice Kindred, and it was a typical cafeteria talk that led Ron and Ivan to planning some joint experiments. Ron had already been working for 2 years at the BII and the prospect of leaving for Duke University, Durham, was already in the air. Ron and Ivan planned a short feasibility experiment on identification and titration of inhibitory cell populations. The success of these experiments led towards a more profound collaboration. This happened on several occasions during Ron's visits to Basel. Both Ivan and Ron claim that they have learnt a lot from each other. The truth is that this collaboration was easy: exact methodologies and protocols existed on both sides, and their combination required no additional effort. It was a pleasant and productive collaboration, which resulted in several good studies. Then Ivan and Ron lost contact for a while, but got together again on the occasion of the Montreal symposia. Their friend and colleague, and co-author of one of their studies – Berenice Kindred – was not alive to join them. Ron Corley. Robbert Benner Robbert Benner (Fig. 10) is head of the Immunology Department of Erasmus University, Rotterdam. Rob interrupted his long-standing career in Rotterdam upon invitation of Niels Jerne to join the BII. Niels had a special relationship with the Netherlands, and especially to Rotterdam – because he had spent a considerable portion of his life in Rotterdam (of course Niels spoke fluent Dutch). Rob had showed upon his arrival in Basel a great interest in Ivan's research and especially in establishing frequencies of various cell types involved in immune reactivity. Several PhD theses from Rob's department dealt with these quantitative aspects, and Ivan – on several visits to Rotterdam – was always impressed with the approaches developed in Erasmus. Rob's contact to the BII continued upon his return to Rotterdam, and he was the first who reacted to the news about the closing down of the BII by suggesting that Ivan join his department for a sabbatical visit. Ivan took up this invitation and spent a fruitful period in the interesting environment of Erasmus University. Rob has a unique and very special way of running his department. He not only learnt from Jerne to give people enough elbow room to pursue their projects, but he promotes discussions and interactions in a very friendly and decisive way. His work style is so different from other places that it is worth mentioning that he not only arrives at the department before anybody else, but he also makes coffee for the early arrivals, and buys flowers once a week for the office – or at least makes sure that flowers are there. His attention to detail is quite remarkable. Rob is married to Diet, and they have four children, all professionals. Robbert Benner. Christopher Paige Christopher Paige (Fig. 11) is a scientist of Renaissance qualities. He has showed during his years at the BII that he is a brilliant scientist: single cell analysis, cloning, you name it. He is now a highly efficient organizer – vice president of the Ontario Cancer Institute, but where he was really unique was as director of the BII opera and other BII productions. This is remembered by generations of immunologists. Chris became also highly appreciated for another kind of activity, when he teamed up with Ivan Lefkovits and Charley Steinberg. There was a devastating fire in 1985, and Charley, Ivan and Chris formed a rescue committee that enabled the efficient recovery of the Institute's activities. Chris knew what the most important task was right after the fire: to clean one square meter of sterile bench space in order to re-inoculate the cells. Without Chris' involvement, it is doubtful whether the Institute could have been restored at all. The tough time they experienced at the time of the fire made Chris and Ivan friends forever. Christopher Paige. Christopher Coleclough The policy of the BII did not make provisions for taking care of the career of spouses. When Chris Coleclough (Fig. 12) applied for the position at the BII, it was not apparent (and it was nobody's business to know) that another applicant – Julia Hurwitz – was his wife. Both applications were approved and Chris and Julia with their two kids – Jenny and Lizzie – joined the Institute. In the context of one of the experiments on cell-free translation of mRNA populations from a cDNA library, Chris sought help from Ivan. From a relative simple question, an entirely new research direction developed. The collaboration continued in spite of Chris and Julia leaving Basel and settling at St Jude's Children's Hospital, Memphis. Chris introduced to Ivan's laboratory an entirely new approach for analysing the complexity of gene expression. Chris turned out to be a highly reliable and conscientious worker, an excellent teacher and an extremely good discussant. Chris is very critical of everybody around him. If this is considered to be ‘arrogant’, it is not because he is devastatingly critical of himself. Chris dislikes large conferences, big statements – and any alfa-animal behaviour. His visits to Ivan's laboratory were always major boosts of knowledge transfer. Chris dislikes not only PowerPoint presentations, but he makes grimaces at any request for e-mail: communication. Julia good-naturedly accepts being a go-between. She does this in spite of being deeply involved in her own independent scientific career. Christopher Coleclough. Igor M. Dozmorov Igor Dozmorov (Fig. 13) is a scientific colleague of Ivan of a kind very different from other contributors to this volume. Igor has never worked at the Basel Institute, and he only knows most of Ivan's colleagues and friends through the literature. Igor is from Russia and he settled in the US some years ago. From there, an exchange of letters, an extramural collaboration, a distinct project, then several manuscript drafts and finally a solid publication resulted. Only then did they meet face-to-face on the occasion when Ivan and Hana visited Igor in Ann Arbor. Igor's life story is an example of what in the western world is considered ‘Russian endurance’. It included separation of the family, whereby Igor and his wife Elja took care of their grandchild Dima for a long time before Dima's mother received permission to join them in the US. However, it was only a happy ending for the younger generation because Igor lost his wife to cancer. The silence of devastation is slowly lifting, and Igor is starting on a new round of challenges. Igor and Ivan are planning discussions on future projects. Igor M. Dozmorov. Roald Nezlin Roald Nezlin (Fig. 14) is an Israeli scientist, originally from Russia, where he worked in the Institute of Molecular Biology of the Academy of Sciences, Moscow. Roald was a distinguished and respected scientist in Russia. He served as a member of editorial boards of several international immunological journals and was known as an author of several books on antibodies. Roald initiated the translation into Russian of the books on immunological methods published under the editorship of Ivan Lefkovits, which were very popular among Russian immunologists. In 1978, Roald applied for exit visa for emigration to Israel, but only after 10 years the Nezlin's family, including two sons and very old parents, was allowed to leave. Roald was accepted in the rank of professor in the prestigious Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot where he continued his studies in various areas of immunology. Several years ago, he published a book on immunoglobulin structure and function. Roald Nezlin. Roald and Ivan have known each other since 1976, when Roald visited the BII on the invitation of Niels Jerne. Contact between Ivan and Roald was re-established soon after Roald's new life began in Israel. He became a regular visitor to Ivan's laboratory and was involved in several scientific projects using original immunochemical assays. Carlos A. Pereira Carlos Pereira (Fig. 15) is a Brazilian scientist with strong ties to Europe. Carlos's laboratory in the Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo is a year-round endeavour, but he himself spends a portion of the year in Strasbourg where his wife Dominique holds a University position. Carlos developed a network of scientific interactions in a manageable radius from Strasbourg. Although he is a busy person, he is always relaxed when planning experiments, courses (not only those sponsored by ICRO but also those which Ivan organised in Czechoslovakia) and on various culinary occasions. Carlos held several visiting appointments in Ivan's laboratory, and a postdoc from Carlos' laboratory completed in Ivan's laboratory – a project initiated earlier by Carlos. Even now in Ivan's ‘post-retirement’ research facilities, scientific exchange has survived. Carlos A. Pereira. Blanka Rihova Blanka Rihova (Fig. 16) is the director of the prestigious Institute of Microbiology of the Academy of Sciences in Prague. Blanka is not only a successful scientist but also a person who decisively shapes the scientific policies of her country. Blanka met Ivan Lefkovits during the early years at the Academy, and then again at the 1967 EMBO course (Frankfurt, Germany). Less than a year after the EMBO course, the iron curtain – which was lifted for a short period during the Dubcek era – fell again on the countries that were in the ‘sphere of interest’ of the Soviet Union. Blanka, as so many participants at the EMBO course, would have probably been on Jerne's BII list. Although science has been supported by the political establishment of Czechoslovakia, it suffered from isolation. Just for submitting a study to an international journal, one needed clearance and permission from various political institutions. Nevertheless, the revolution of 1989 opened the window for fresh air and new contacts. Blanka used it with good measure, and has spent several shorter or longer visiting appointments in the US and elsewhere. Blanka is married to Ivan Riha – a distinguished immunologist of Sterzl's generation; they have adult children and they take care of a huge garden outside Prague where their friends – including Ivan and his wife Hana – are frequent visitors. Blanka is vice president of the Czech Learned Society. Blanka Rihova. Helena Tlaskalová-Hogenová Helena Tlaskalova (Fig. 17) is the most distinguished representative of the immunological school of Jaroslav Sterzl. Helena has been associated with Jaroslav's scientific career for almost four decades. Her main interest has, for a long time, been mucosal immunity, while she never forgets to add that it was Jaroslav Sterzl's unblurred vision that mucosal immunity is the clue for understanding the processes of the immune system. Sterzl's uncompromising criticism of the Soviet invasion caused his removal from his position as Head of Immunology. It speaks for the moral standing of the community of immunologists that even when Jaroslav was stripped by the post-Dubcek ‘normalization regime’ of any function, the group still respected him as a leader. For Sterzl's generation, the fall of communism came – in certain sense – too late. Sterzl took – after the velvet revolution 1989 – directorial responsibility for a period of time, whereas now he does what he should, which is writing the history of immunology. Helena Tlaskalová-Hogenová. In the new era after the fall of communism, Helena Tlaskalova became head of the Immunology Department, and she achieved it to bring Sterzl's Immunology School back to being a focus of international interest. Helena and her department succeeded in competing for grants, not only at local level but also at international level. The immunology group received due recognition, and this was because of the seeds sown by Sterzl, and by the caring hand of Helena. Helena is married to Vlastimil Tlaskal and they have two adult children – Helena (jr) and Jiri. She has always been an extremely busy person, but she receives great support from Vlasta – a professional in his own field, but devoted to Helena's friends. Helena is a member of the Czech Learned Society, and of various international institutions. Gill Wu Gill Wu's scientific career goes back to McMaster University and the University of Toronto. Gill (Fig. 18) joined the BII in 1984 when her primary research focus was on the generation of Ig diversity and polymorphism in immunoglobulin genes in relation to various (disease) models. Currently Dean of Science and Engineering at York University in Toronto, she continues a strong research programme in Ig diversity. Her Basel years were of great importance scientifically both to her and to many other members of the BII. Gill formed a strong friendship and relationship with Charley Steinberg. Charley's central role in the life of the BII was a strong motivation to maintain friendship even though Charley died prematurely in 1999. Ivan organized a retirement symposium for Charley in Prague in 1998, and that must have given Gill the idea to organize a symposium for Ivan. Gill was a member of the Programme Committee of the Montreal World Congress of Immunology, and she submitted the proposal for this symposium. Gill took it upon herself to arrange for sponsorship (Roche), and made a major effort to make the idea become reality. The shared memory of Charley remains an important tie between Gill and Ivan. Gill Wu. John R. Kettman Jack Kettman (Fig. 19) was a postdoctoral fellow from 1969 to 1972 at Richard Dutton's laboratory in La Jolla. Soon after Jack joined the BII, a close contact was established with Ivan, and the ensuing strong collaboration unfolded on the many subsequent visits from Dallas to Basel. The interaction continued for more than a quarter of a century, as manifested in many joint publications throughout the decades. According to Ivan's assessment, Laboratory 12 would never have become so versatile (and so full of life) without Jack's participation. Jack started a company, but it was his luck and talent that the company did not consume him, and his major interest in basic science still remained. The company was very successful, and Jack felt that the new wealth gave him the freedom of not having to depend on normal academic red tape. John R. Kettman. Jack is married to Diana who was a catalysing force behind Jack's regular visits to Basel, because Diana liked Switzerland (she keeps reminding her friends that long, long ago she worked as a nurse in a distant place near Arosa). In spite of the Californian nurture of the Kettmans, they share now their time between the New and Old continent. Their regular wine-tasting excursions to Burgundy now have serious competition from the Californian area. Anita, Pat and Lotte have been associated with Ivan for the longest time. There have been, in addition, other technicians – Lena Skarvall, Bruno Fol, Alexandra Reed and Susan Davies – but the greatest imprint on laboratory activity was made by the abovementioned three. They were at Ivan's symposium in Montreal (invited by Jack Kettman), and they prepared a collection of photographs that gives a glimpse into the scientific and social activities of Laboratory 12. Ivan said that without Anita there would have been no Limiting Dilution, without Pat no successful transition to proteomics and without Lotte there would have been no order in the system. Ivan points out that this also applies to the plants, which had a very good life among the friendly people in Laboratory 12. Two scientists – Gill Wu and Jack Kettman – shared the responsibility and task of organizing the Montreal Symposium in honour of Ivan Lefkovits in summer 2004. It is very probable that the idea to organize a symposium for Ivan was born during the splendid days in Prague when Ivan organised a retirement symposium for Charley Steinberg, a close friend of Gill. Jack teamed up with Gill, because he knew the ‘ingredients’ required to arrange the symposium. Most of the contributors to the festschrift met and presented their research results at this symposium.