Stadford R. Ovshinsky

Twenty-four years ago, Hellmut Fritzsche came to our laboratory to evaluate our work in amorphous materials. He came many times, sometimes bringing his violin to play with our youngest son, to talk, to help, to discover, and to teach. The times with him were always exciting and rewarding. There was a camaraderie in the early years that has continued and a friendship that has deepened among Iris and me and Hellmut, Sybille and their children. The vision that Hellmut Fritzsche shared with me, the many important contributions he made, the science that he helped so firmly to establish, the courage he showed in the time of our adversity, and the potential that he recognized put all of us in the amorphous field, not only his close friends and collaborators, in his debt. He helped make a science out of intuition, and played an important role not only in the experimental field but also in the basic theoretical aspects. It has been an honor to work with Hellmut through the years.