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Berkeley icon George Leitmann’s career nears half-century mark
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Professor Emeritus George Leitmann (left) receives congratulations from General Louis-Alain Roche after accepting the Croix de Guerre avec Palmes, France’s highest military honor, in Paris last June.
JOSEF LEITMANN PHOTO
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Most people would consider their 80th birthday a fine time to relax and stay at home with the grandchildren. But not College icon George Leitmann (Ph.D.’56 Eng Sci). He marked the occasion by traveling to Europe with his wife Nancy to accept another round of accolades for his lifetime of accomplishments.
Now professor emeritus of engineering science and associate dean for international relations, Leitmann celebrated his 80th birthday on May 24. His 48-year Berkeley career has included everything from research and teaching to serving as the first ombudsman in the UC system. His campus awards include a 1991 Berkeley Citation, one of the University’s highest honors, and a 2002 Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award.
But he made his mark well before that, on a reconnaissance mission with the U.S. 286th Engineer Combat Battalion during World War II. For his 1945 role in capturing Colmar, in Alsace-Lorraine, he was awarded France’s highest military honor, the Croix de Guerre avec Palmes.
“I was barely 19,” Leitmann recalls. “I was sent into Colmar to find a way to get in and, after three days of hiding, I guided my unit into the city. They didn’t have any medals at the time, so they just gave me a ribbon.” On June 1, 2005, the French Ministry of Defense invited Leitmann to Paris to celebrate the 60-year anniversary of the battle and to receive the Croix de Guerre again, this time in the form of a medal.
The Leitmanns also visited Stuttgart, where the 13th Annual International Workshop of Dynamics and Control was dedicated to George. Proceedings included papers on topics related to his research, a banquet in his honor, and presentation of the Werner Heisenberg medal for his “outstanding contributions to international scientific collaboration.”
Leitmann claims he’s slowing down, that his memory is losing its sharpness, and that his back gives him problems. So he exercises four times every day—with stretching morning and night, cycling mornings, and swimming at midday—to keep fit.
“Everybody’s different,” he says. “There are people who can lie down on the couch all day and be fine, but I’m a person who needs something definite to do every day. I need structure.”
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