Physics.
A lifelong passion.

Giorgio Maria Giacomelli, Professor Emeritus of Experimental Physics of the Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna was one of the leading scientists who contributed significantly to the university's excellence in experimental particle physics.

Born in Cagli in 1931, Giorgio received a degree in physics from the University of Bologna in 1954, followed by a PhD in physics from the University of Rochester, New York, in 1958. He was appointed professor of general physics at the University of Padua in 1971 and then at the University of Bologna in 1974. He was director of the Institute of Physics and later of the Department of Physics of the Alma Mater.

Countless universities and international research laboratories beyond Italy had the privilege of Giorgio's collaboration and teaching – the University of Rochester, CERN, the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell, the Brookhaven National Laboratory, the Institute of High-Energy Physics in Serpukhov, Fermilab, the University of Kyoto, and the University of California, at Berkeley and Riverside. He was a committed advocate for co-operation and science dissemination in universities and laboratories in developing countries, initiating collaborations with Oujda, Kolkata, Islamabad, Bamako, São Paulo and Recife.

At the Alma Mater, Giorgio trained and mentored generations of students and researchers, supervising hundreds of undergraduate and postgraduate theses in Italy and abroad. His scientific attitude, an uncompromising refusal of any approach that was not scientifically founded, a rare ability to synthesize and identify solutions – all of these combined with an uncommon physics insight to make him recognized as a master in the field.

He was author of more than 800 publications in scientific journals, 450 reports and conference proceedings, and 50 scientific monographs. He was also a member of many national and international scientific committees, which included the European Committee for Future Accelerators and committees of CERN, Fermilab and INFN. At the time of his death, he was still a collaborator with INFN and CERN, a fellow of the American Physical Society, "socio benemerito" of the Italian Physical Society, and a member of the European Physical Society, the Accademia delle Scienze di Bologna and the New York Academy of Sciences.

From the late 1960s, Giorgio was a respected and admired group leader. He had a unique ability to identify an individual's natural talent, whatever its nature, whether it be theoretical or experimental, organizational or communication skills. Undergraduates and graduate students, technicians and researchers, young and old – he was able to find, appreciate and value their best qualities, which became a resource for the whole team.

Giorgio coupled leadership with kindness. His natural respect for people, his lack of any cultural or gender bias, and his gentle but determined nature created a friendly and efficient work environment where everyone always felt welcome and valued. A natural communicator, in later years he increased his dedication to the popularization of science, and was chairman of the University of Bologna's popularization website, www.scienzagiovane.unibo.it.