Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on August 3, 2006
Human Reproduction 2006 21(10):2494; doi:10.1093/humrep/del309
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Obituary
In memory of Josep Egozcue Chairman of ESHRE (1995–1997): a personal remembrance from two of his students
1 Unitat Biologia Cel.lular, Universitat Autònoma Barcelona, 08192-Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain 2 Servei Medicina de la Reproducció, Institut Universitari Dexeus, P° Bonanova 89–91, 08017-Barcelona, Spain 3 Banc de Línies Cel.lulars, Centre de Medicina Regenerativa, C/Dr. Aiguader 88, 08002-Barcelona, Spain
4 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Unitat Biologia Cel.lular, Universitat Autonoma Barcelona, 08193-Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain. E-mail: francesca.vidal{at}uab.es
Sir,
We write as a tribute to Josep Egozcue (1940–2006) a remarkable person, an unforgettable teacher and an outstanding scientist.
Josep Egozcue was born in 24 October 1940, in Barcelona (Spain). He obtained his MD in 1964 from the Universitat de Barcelona, and afterwards, he moved to the Regional Primate Research Centre in Beaverton (OR, USA). There he initiated his research in cytogenetics, which was to be the hallmark of his entire career. In the emerging time of chromosome studies, he contributed with remarkable data to the knowledge of cytogenetic evolution in primates, and he was one of the pioneers in reporting meiotic data from primates and humans. He obtained his PhD degree from the Universitat de Barcelona (1969), with the dissertation dealing with chromosomal abnormalities and drug-uptake (‘Anomalias celulares y cromosómicas in vivo e in vitro producidas por drogas alucinógenas’).
In 1970, he was offered a faculty position at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona where he soon organized a team of enthusiastic PhD students. Since then, his research and academic life were linked to this institution, where he held the position of Professor of Cell Biology for the last 22 years.
As a teacher, he had a profound impact on students because of his remarkable vision of science and his way of teaching. He was an esteemed professor, and we are proud to be among the long list of graduate students who benefited from his classes and who have followed his approach to genetics.
Josep Egozcue was a man with a phenomenal capacity for work and sparkling ideas. He cared about the many young scientists who trained with him, and he was a superb mentor. Those of us fortunate to have had him as a tutor were caught by his enthusiasm and driving force. He introduced us to science and also how to ‘survive’ in the scientific world. Over many years, he continued to foster the careers of junior colleagues and post-doctoral researchers, and he was always happy to collaborate with others. He managed to build a group of researchers and friends, giving us a considerable freedom of action and encouraging us to initiate our own scientific ventures. He was a clever-minded person in the envisagement of novel research prospects, and the work of his team spanned the field of mammalian chromosome evolution, cancer cytogenetics, mutagenesis and human reproduction.
The name of Prof Egozcue is inextricably entwined to European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE): in the foundation of the society, as a member of the First and Second Executive Committees (1985–1989), as a Chairman Elect (1993–1995), as a Chairman (1995–1997) and as an Honorary member since 2003. He enjoyed discussing his ideas freely, and those who have shared with him in meetings and working sessions will surely remember his way of doing things, his open mind and also his firm defence of the interests of our society.
He devoted an important part of his time in the spreading of scientific knowledge to the general public. He was always ready to participate in debates, and he was smart at instigating discussions of burning subject matters, always bringing a scientific perspective. He has published numerous popular articles, and he was a frequent guest writer in the opinion sections of newspapers. He was involved and seriously concerned in bioethics, and has been an active member of interdisciplinary committees and societies. Over the years, he was called on for considerable national and international advisory services.
He had high professional standards and did not seek personal attention, but he nonetheless attained scientific prominence, and he received many well-deserved honours for his work from both the International and the Spanish scientific communities.
We do not wish to focus this remembrance as simply an account of all of Prof Egozcue’s scientific accomplishments because this is easily tracked. In fact, many of his publications over the years have appeared in the pages of this Journal. Josep Egozcue was a man of uncommonly broad interests, and his activities and enthusiasm overflowed the boundaries that confine most scientists. He had friends all over the world. His subtle and ironic humour, his personal warmth, his optimism about people and his upbeat approach to life will be remembered by all his many colleagues and friends. We will keep fond memories of our teacher. We have the ‘Egozcue’s’ imprint in the work we have done together, and it will probably come out in our future projects.
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