[TYPES/announce] Tribute to Gilles Dowek

[Catherine DUBOIS]

Dear all,

it is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Gilles Dowek  
on 21 July, 58 years old, after a three-year courageous battle with  
cancer.

Gilles was a Research Director at Inria and an Associate Professor at  
ENS Paris-Saclay. He was a major scientist in Computer Science,  
internationally renowned. It is difficult to summarize his  
contributions to our discipline in just a few lines. His work focused  
on the formalization of mathematics, type theory and proof theory, the  
links between computation and deduction, rewriting, quantum  
computation, and more.
This theoretical work, recognized as being of prime importance, drove  
his research into making it available through the design and  
development of tools: proof assistants (Coq then Dedukti), the design  
of algorithms improving the safety of aeronautical systems,  
interoperability of formal proofs, etc.

Beyond the aspects specific to his profession, Gilles was a computer  
scientist committed to society. His contributions span multiple fields  
such as ethics, popularization, and teaching in all curricula. In  
particular, he contributed greatly to the introduction of the ISN  
(Computer Science and Digital Science) option in high schools, and  
until recently he was still very active on the Higher Council for  
Programs.

Gilles received numerous prizes, that demonstrate how well he was  
recognized by his peers: the Grand Prix de Philosophie award of the  
French Academy for the book "Les Métamorphoses du calcul" in 2007 ;  
the Grand Prix Inria - Academy of Sciences award in 2023 ; the History  
of Sciences and Epistemology medal of the Academy of Sciences in 2024.

Finally, Gilles was an outstanding speaker and teacher, with a speech  
rate that could not let you fall asleep, an unmatched pedagogy and a  
very large culture. He was open to everybody and was first to support  
the youngers. He has inspired, guided, and led in his projects  
uncountably many persons. Thank you for everything, Gilles. Having  
known you has been a chance, a pleasure, but above all an honor.

To conclude, we quote a paragraph that has been written by the SIF  
(French Computer Science Society), to which Gilles has largely  
contributed: "He leaves a rich inheritage, written and filmed, that  
tackles intemporal questions and that will for a long time keep us  
reflecting. He also leaves us an optimistic without naïve idealism  
viewpoint, an incitement to pursue the development of our human  
intelligence while keeping eyes wide open on the world."

Catherine Dubois, Thérèse Hardin, Olivier Hermant