Tribute to Jean Massardier

Our former colleague Jean Massardier passed away on 20 July 2024 at the age of 88. Jean Massardier was born on 11 December 1936 in the Loire. After studying preparatory classes at the Lycée Claude Fauriel in Saint Etienne, he entered the Ecole Supérieure de Chimie in Lyon (class of 1960). Like many other students at the school, the Institut de Recherches sur la Catalyse (whose director was also the director of the school) offered an alternative to a career in industry and opened the way to academic research. In 1961, Jean Massardier chose to join the IRC, recently built on the DOUA site, as a research trainee and then, in 1962, as a research associate at the CNRS. He joined the diffraction and electron microscopy unit of the Institute’s physics department. On 23 April 1968, he defended his thesis entitled ‘Contribution à l’étude de l’hydrogénation de l’éthylène sur les silices et silices alumines’ and went on to study synthetic zeolites. In the early 1970s, during the thematic reorganisation of the teams, he worked on the nickel-based monometallic catalyst and contributed to the first surface science studies on the adsorption of molecules on single-crystal model catalysts, in particular Ni and Pt. These very fundamental studies formed the basis for understanding the activity of metallic catalysts and the influence of alloy composition on selectivities. He continued to work in this area of surface science, tackling other types of catalyst such as molybdenum oxide, until his retirement in 1998. He loved to share his enthusiasm and his knowledge. Jean was a passionate football fan and an unconditional supporter of the ‘verts’. He was a member of the IRC football team, where he proved to be an excellent technician and tactician.
Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

