>From geosteph@MIT.EDU Sat Feb 21 18:41:58 1998

Dear Sigurd,

It has been three months since the memorable evening in Pasadena and with
this, rather belated note, I would like to thank you very much for being
part of it.  It has meant so much to me.

Although it would have been perfectly in character for Manfred and Yaman to
think and organize a dinner party for my 50th birthday, and somehow I had
entertained the thought and hope in my mind, what all of you put together
was a true surprise.  With class and style, having so many of the family
members present, the gathering at Pasadena will remain for a long time an
experience that I will treasure deeply and dearly.

Coming over to the restaurant with Yaman and Coleman Brosilow, I was
half-expecting a small group of rather senior colleagues.  What I found was
far more creative and satisfying.  I was prepared for the usual niceties,
by way of response.  Instead, I lost my thoughts and my words, and that is
not an exaggeration.  I would have liked to say things different than and
in addition to those I said.  Well, it is never late to remedy the
situation, so here they are.

It was twenty years earlier when Manfred graduated, and what a twenty years
period it has been.  With 28 academic children and an additional 137 grand-
and great-grand-children, I feel as one of the most blessed among the
academic chemical engineers.  I am so glad that Manfred and Yaman decided
to compile the academic family tree.  I never realized how extensive it is.
 Keep up the good work.

I am sure that you are well aware of how proud I have been and still am for
all of my students' and their students' successes and accomplishments.  All
of you have done exceptionally well and you still have the potential to
surpass it.  To the small degree that I played a historical role in this
development, this represents for me the most sustained sense of
accomplishment.

Remembering the years at Minnesota, the energetic pursue of research work,
the beauty of setting new ideas and directions and matching them with
rigorous analyses, still gives me a great sense of satisfaction.
Reinventing ourselves at MIT with the help of outstanding risk-taking
students, was very refreshing and invigorating.  Both of these periods
taught me a lot, like (a) the thrilling expectation that comes with
learning new things, (b) the satisfaction of opening new areas, and (c) the
intriguing anticipation of pushing the boundaries all the time and see
where they take you.  I suspect that these fringe benefits of our academic
setting provide the most reliable basis of satisfaction and make our work
so much fun.  On the other hand they teach all of us, students and
professors alike that graduate studies is an adventure and not just a step
in a purely professional development process, like an MBA or a medical
degree.  I am grateful to all of my students, especially the first two,
Manfred and Yaman, for helping me realize that from the beginning, so that
I can still practice it.

My students, their students, and their successes in both industry and
academia are a pride that I am very happy to be associated with.  It was
great to see so many of you at the dinner.  You have given so much depth to
the family tree and have created a reality that dominates the area of
Process Systems Engineering, a terrific accomplishment.

With my sincere thanks, and warmest wishes for every personal success and
happiness.

Affectionately
George Stephanopoulos

PS1.  I have put the framed version of the tree on my office wall,
immediately after you enter my office, so that everyone can see it.  It is
remarkable how everyone is so impressed (and I never knew it).  I have
attached a MS-Word file with a copy of it.  Please let me know of the new
entries as they appear.
PS3.  The wristwatch is beautiful and has become a permanent feature.