David Wessel—A unique professor in Berkeley

Among my best experiences during a half century in Berkeley was the opportunity to interact as friend and colleague of Professor David Wessel. His remarkable blend of scientific brilliance and creativity allowed him to look deeply into questions, figure out the good bits, and come up with new and exciting approaches to an answer. This connection between theory and solution defined his role on a student’s committees, and I found that both students and their advisors were grateful for the clarity of his advice. If you asked David for help, you found a seemingly endless fount of generosity, a gift that made him special to everyone who worked with him. Today, I will reminisce on an array of memories that range from his depth of knowledge in both the sciences and arts, on his skills as a chef, on his willingness to provide technical help to everyone, on his compulsion to get us interested in new forms of music, and even on his charming mid-western-American accented French. Yes, Wessel was a brilliant guy, but we will also remember him as a particularly sweet person who left a mark on those fortunate enough to have known him.