[CPM-SPIRE-L] the ultimate Raconteur

Wed Jul 29 02:53:02 PDT 2015

Dear All,
  I met Alberto in 2002, at that time I was looking for a Master Thesis
here in Padova. As many other students, I spoke with several professors
before picking the right thesis. Alberto introduced me to pattern discovery,
and even if I didn't understand the topic, it was immediately clear to
me that I was in front to someone special, so I decided to follow his
advice.
Even after my graduation, when I was relieved to finish my studies and
leave the university, we had a long chat in which he described me the
"myriad virtues" of research. I was always amazed by his passion and how it
was able to
transmit it to others, so I follow his advice and continue with a PHD.
I had the privilege to work with him since then.

I am still shocked and deeply sad for the news.

Here below a photo from RECOMB 2006, a story from me and one from a
colleague here in Padova (Andrea Pietracaprina).

Matteo Comin

--------- The Chiarissimo Debate ---------------

December 2006
I was finishing my Ph.D. under his supervision,
and I was preparing my thesis.
Towards the end of my Ph.D., Alberto and I had several meetings
to discuss how to write the thesis, till in December
I was able to prepare the final draft.
After so much work I was quite nervous for his final approval
and Alberto was reading silently every paragraph.
Everything was ok, until he finished to check the last paragraph
and he close the thesis. He looked at the cover for quite some time,
till he found something that appears to be terribly wrong to him.
The last line was "Supervisore: Chiar.mo Prof. A. Apostolico"
The problem was that he really don't liked to be called Chiarissimo,
and he ask me to remove it. I told him that every thesis that I have seen
has this adjective.
Chiarissimo literally translates as enlightened or extremely clear
which was one of the many talents of Alberto.
To me that adjective seemed quite appropriate and I didn't see the problem.
Yet Alberto pointed out that I should remove it.
He justified his request by describing the many qualities of Leonardo.
Everyone knows that Leonardo was a fine painter and sculptor.
He was also known for his ability to design machines and to project
buildings,
few knows that he wrote several poetries, among many other talents.
"However we do not call him painter, sculptor, architect, scientist,
engineer, inventor, or poet...  We call him just Leonardo. Who am I to be
called Chiarissimo?"

He was more than just a mentor to me, a bright and humble human being.
I will miss Alberto deeply.

-------------- From Andrea Pietracaprina ----------------------------

I met Alberto 22 years ago and worked in the same department for
almost 15 years.  I have many memories Alberto and decided to share
with you the one that, although a long time has passed, is still the
most vivid in my mind.

July 1995. We both were in Padova at that time: I was an assistant
professor in the math department and he was full professor in the
electrical and computer engineering department. The two of us were
going to attend ICALP in Szeged (Hungary) and, after checking
different travel options, decided that the most convenient thing to do
was to drive there. Right away the trip ahead appeared somewhat
challenging: about 1000km, 15h drive -with road conditions of that
time-, to cover twice (back and forth) in a 5-days period with my
not-so-comfortable, non-airconditioned FIAT UNO. Although Alberto had
been always extremely friendly to me, still I was a junior faculty and
I was clearly a bit intimidated by Alberto, who, instead, was already
a very well known and charismatic leader of our community.  So, during
the days preceding our journey I felt a bit nervous and I "prepared"
for the long drive reviewing possible topics of conversation. In fact,
none of this was at all necessary.  The journey turned out to be among
the most pleasant I can remember.  Alberto had a distinctive, I'd say
unique, ability to put other people at ease. It's been like traveling
with an old friend, talking about work, life, food, vacations,
whatever came to our mind and, sometimes, just looking silently at the
landscape around us.

But the true anecdote comes in the return leg of our journey.  It was
midday (about 1 pm), and we had just left Szeged, happily heading
north-west towards the beautiful Balaton lake. We were discussing some
of the results that we had just heard at the conference (I was
impressed by Alberto's ability of distilling the key aspects of those
results, as if they had been his results), when the police stopped us.
I (the driver) stepped out of the car trying to make sense of the
accusations that, in broken English, the policeman was making against
us.  Apparently, our fault was that our headlights were off, whereas
in Hungary it was compulsory to have them on also during the
day. Although this seemed to me a somewhat minor fault the policeman,
at least judging from his gaze, did not seem to share my evaluation of
the gravity of our offense. So, sweating profusely, I started
analyzing possible worst-case scenarios when Alberto, very calm, also
stepped out of the car, and with a serene, yet slightly annoyed gaze
on his face, looked firmly into this guy's eyes and told him, in a low
voice, as stating the obvious, that we were world-famous scientists,
guests of the Hungarian government, and that any controversy would
have to be resolved directly by the local government officers.  I am
not sure whether it was more the content of his statement or
the way it was delivered (probably both), but for sure the policeman
was stunned, and at that point - I thought - only two of the options
that my mind had scanned before Alberto intervention, were left:
either we would be immediately released and be able to continue our
journey back home, or we would soon find ourselves locked behind bars
for life.  Since I'm writing this story comfortably seated in my
office in Padova, you can guess which of the two options turned out to
be correct.

Thank you Alberto, it's been a great pleasure to know you.

On Mon, Jul 27, 2015 at 3:12 AM, Laxmi Parida <parida at us.ibm.com> wrote:

> *Alberto, the perfect gentleman*
> I formed an  indelible bond with Alberto ever since his  visit to the IBM
> Research lab, in 2001-2002.  He spent roughly six to eight months at the
> institute and I got to know him at many different levels: a collaborator, a
> friend, a mentor, a confidant.  He helped me buy my car. Quickly realizing
> my ignorance on the subject, one fine afternoon he drove me to the dealer
> and did all the negotiating. The result: I drove home a brand new BMW. He
> warned me not to wiggle in my car since the BMW, being the fine piece of
> engineering that it is, would wiggle with me.
> Later, during that visit I once invited Alberto and family home for
> dinner. In the foolishness of my youth, I made the error of serving some
> Italian inspired dishes (I remember what I had cooked but will spare you
> the details). Few days later two Italian-Cooking magazines mysteriously
> appeared in my mailbox. I now shudder to think that I even served him some
> local wine. It was later that I was to learn about his taste in wine (and
> food). And,  somewhere along the line,  like David Sankoff, I have also
> become a regular consumer of Prosecco.
>
> The year 2008 was special. I missed the celebration in CPM at Pisa. I
> organized a small surprise birthday party for Alberto at the Trieste School
> (attached picture). And, I had the good fortune of staying at his place in
> Padova during my birthday, where he had a surprise cake for me (attached
> picture). Sometime, between the two celebrations,  I was on his boat
> (attached pic with Rosa).
>
> *Penchant for positivity*
> I have never ever heard Alberto say a negative thing about anything. He
> had this uncanny knack for giving a positive spin to all.
> Once I had worked for weeks on a proof of a theorem, but, as luck would
> have it, it all collapsed. I was very disappointed and when I told Alberto
> about it, he said, again in a style that only he can say,  "a lot can be
> salvaged from the rich debris of a wreck".  Sure enough, he joined me in
> the rescue effort.
>
> Here is a hilarious one, that always brings a smile to my face.
> Once after a week in DIMACS, where we had co-organized a workshop, I came
> home to a very tall pile of dishes in my kitchen sink. Later I was
> complaining to Alberto about this and he said  "You are lucky  that the
> dishes were not all over the house-- under the sofa, behind the TV, on the
> bed, etc etc where they could very well have been. At least, they were
> neatly placed in the sink for your convenience."
>
> Well, there is one exception. Even Alberto could not get himself to say
> something nice about yogurt. He did not like yogurt. He was only too happy
> to give the credit for inventing yogurt to the Greeks (or, Indians when I
> so insisted).
>
> *Simply funny*
> Alberto loved to spend the month of August sailing. I have heard great
> many boat stories from some of you and from Alberto.  Here is a little one
> of mine:
> Once I had to reach him during the month of August and needed his
> signature urgently for a document. Given his location, he said that I
> should feel free to replicate his signature (let me assure the reader that
> this was for a very innocuous purpose) and so I did. A few more  times as
> well. Then later he came back to me saying if I could send him a copy of
> his signature, so that he could study it and replicate his own signature,
> for the future.
>
> *The Perfectionist*
> People who know me also know of my strange desire to get one in a real or
> fake tango pose for a Kodak moment. Alberto always dodged my request,
> perhaps because the perfectionist in him didnt like the idea of faking, and
> pushed someone else to oblige me. But finally, he gave in at one of our
> Dagstuhl workshops (maybe because Titti silently insisted- attached
> picture).
>
> As I recall and write these, I realize how he touched our lives in so many
> ways.
> Unquestionably, a great scholar with depth as well as breadth- almost an
> impossibility to achieve. I continue to work closely with many of his
> academic descendants. At a personal level, he was a perfect gentleman and
> the nicest man I have ever known. I will always miss him.
>
> Laxmi
>
>
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>

-- 
Matteo Comin

Associate Professor
Department of Information Engineering
University of Padova

Tel.: +39 049 8277935
Fax: +39 049 8277799
Email: comin (at) dei.unipd.it

Web Site: http://www.dei.unipd.it/~ciompin
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