I just want to say a few words concerning Roger who was our CRPE director in the years 1984.

1. I just want to say a few words concerning Roger who was our CRPE director in the years 1984.

2. We knew him and his staff since a long time before at CNET and he had a solid reputation of scientist of great stature with an “aura” around him as a high level scientist and also a strong “fusion” between him and his staff. This reputation was circulating around the different technical services of CNET with a lot of anecdotes. What was obvious was his humanity.

3. The first “interviews” were indeed difficult, since Roger gave the impression of a “wall” and a glance behind his spectacles in which it was difficult to find any feeling excepted his intelligence. Soon we have understood the game rule: Roger wanted a discussion about our scientific tasks or potential decisions with solid, earnest and convincing arguments. He had been probably briefed about atmospheric activities at CRPE before his venue as director, but he wanted to argue by himself. I have appreciated when he went to visit our field experiment (Mesogers 84) and he discussed with every participant to understand both motivations and people working around. I have also appreciated his confidence and constant fruitful discussions to obtain green fire to undertake different new subjects. Particularly I remember the great help he had carried out for the realization of an “exotic” experiment at the Stromboli volcano for people of IPG. He had well understood the tasks of CRPE after the CNET defection and his effort to find tracks for the future CRPE implantation at Vélizy was a success

4. We have also to remember the important rôle that Roger had played for Atmospheric remote sensing activity in France, creating the « DEA de télédétection » Remote Sensing Education now recognized of major interest in the hexagone.

5. Since he was retired, I met him at occasionally CETP (Vélizy) and I observed that he was interested by questions relative to our atmosphere (the climate) and was always asking questions relative to greenhouse or other questions (never really satisfied by our responses). often he sent me information about papers which he thought to be useful for us or writing a word on my desk when I was absent. I have to say that I have appreciated him as our director, his intellectual integrity and his attitude of apparent coldness or (timidity?) which was in fact I think a wish to receive from the “contradictor” (contradictor by the situation), well constructed argumentation which was in fact a rule of life of great physicist! I have to add that working with German colleagues and Russian colleagues, the first word I had from them was: do you know Professor Gendrin? Le souvenir de Roger, d’avoir côtoyé une telle personnalité restera gravé dans mon souvenir.