In memoriam - Adrien Herbillon (1934-2021)

The IUSS Secretariat was sad to learn that our distinguished colleague Prof. Dr. Adrien Herbillon passed away on the 19th of June 2021. He was 87 years old. He was a leading scientist in soil processes and colloidal mineralogy at the European Union and world level. He had been the President of the Belgian Soil Science Society and the General Secretary of the Association Internationale pour l’Étude des Argiles (AIPEA). He was Professor at the Université catholique de Louvain (Belgium) and the Université Henri Poincaré – Nancy I (France) while directing the CNRS Centre de Pédologie Biologique funded earlier by Philippe Duchaufour in Nancy. Author and co-author of a number of scientific articles, text books and book chapters, Adrien Herbillon was a scientist of great culture who will remain a reference: he was a real lively library and an exceptional source of inspiration for many students and soil scientists. Acting from field to lab, he was an outstanding soil scientist and one of the pillars of numerous scientific networks on soil processes. Beyond his undeniable scientific skills, he was deeply human, a very social person. His kindness, availability and great modesty have always made us admiring him. We all lose a competent colleague and a friend. His death is a tremendous loss for the soil science community and for soil science in general.

Messages to his family can be addressed to:

Mrs. Brigitte Herbillon and family rue des Ourdons, 7 1457 Tourinnes-Saint-Lambert Belgium

By Bruno Delvaux, Emeritus Professor UCLouvain, Belgium