Berkeley School of Engineering, June 20th, 2019

Remembering Jean Paul Jacob – the invisible hand guiding Brazil, IBM, and Berkeley into the future. Jean-Paul would surely have us smiling and laughing in spite of this solemn occasion today. Thank-you so much Berkeley friends.

Jean Paul was a master communicator, like Carl Sagan in my mind. However, instead of billions and billions of stars, Jean-Paul spoke of billions and billions of transistors.

Jean Paul was cool – he looked a bit like “the most interesting man in the world” from the beer commercials, with his well-groomed beard – which he slowly pulled on as he contemplated his next witty remark.

We miss Jean Paul greatly – his razor-sharp wit and passion for explaining the future of technology to business and government leaders, as well as journalist and students of diverse backgrounds. Carolyn Wallace who is here today was our Almaden customer briefing leader, and she scheduled Jean Paul in hundreds of presentations over the years.

Jean Paul had 57 years of service at IBM, more than anyone else I have ever known. Forty years as a regular employee and seventeen years as IBM Research Emeritus.

After getting his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in Brazil and then moving to France in 1960, Jean Paul first started working for IBM Nordics in 1962 in Stockholm Sweden. The next year, he moved to IBM Scientific Computing Research Center in California to work on the NASA Space Mission Simulator, and getting his Berkeley degrees. He spent the 1970’s back in Brazil working with universities on scientific computing, and then helped establish in 1980 the IBM Brazil Scientific Center and Institute for Software Engineering, where he met Fabio Gandour, a doctor, who later came to work for IBM (and Camille Crittendon read Fabio’s Eulogy early). In the mid 1980’s he returned to California, and had offices both at the newly built IBM Almaden Research Center and the IBM Cottle Road Storage Systems center down the hill in San Jose. In 1991, he met Mike Foster.

I met Jean Paul when I started at IBM Almaden in 1998, and Jean Paul took on the big challenge of helping me learn to make a proper presentation. This proved to be a lifelong challenge for Jean Paul – but I hope he is smiling down on us all today, since I used no slides.

Thank-you Berkeley friends for this wonderful event, and I would just like to share a few of the comments that have been collected from those who Jean Paul worked with over the years at IBM:

Robin Williams (IBM Research – Almaden, Retired): “Jean Paul would go to Brazil about once a year and later I would hear that he was on TV there being interviewed, that he gave great talks about the future of technology and got rave reviews.  He was treated like a rock star. “

Sergio Borger (IBM Brazil, Executive): “JP was a role model for me, since I was in high school.”

John Cohn (IBM Fellow): “In honor of Jean Paul, I made this video called Video, about The Pickle Lightbulb which I know was one of his favorite science experiments.”

Fernando Koch (IBM): “Jean Paul Jacob was a master communicator. When he spoke about the future of technology, people listened”

Laura Anderson (IBM Almaden): “He was legendary.”

Ted Selker (IBM Fellow, Retired): “Jean Paul Jacob’s energy and caring were infectious… I so  appreciated him introducing me to fascinating opportunities and experiences… The most surprising experience was when he had Playboy Brazil interview me about our research project called Room With A View.”

Mike Ross (IBM Almaden Communications, Retired): “JP’s entertaining/evolving talk/presentation .”The Future Is Not What It Used To Be!” – would love to have an image of the JP-2000 universal portable computer/communicator he predicted in the early 1990s … which was so outrageous when he predicted it … but in retrospect, clearly something similar to what smartphones are today.”

Dan Russell (Google, formerly IBM, author of “The Joy of Search” book): “My favorite JP memory is that for years I had a standing Thursday afternoon meeting with him.  When I’d show up he’d say “Where’s my Dan Russell list??” and look for a piece of paper with my name on it. “

Ethevaldo Siqueira (Brazilian Journalist): “Few scientists in Brazil and the United States have contributed more than Jean-Paul Jacob to enrich our knowledge of digital technologies”

Robert Morris (IBM, Retired, former Director of IBM Almaden): “Thanks for forwarding the sad news regarding Jean Paul.  He was such a towering force and was so truly caring about people and institutions.  He will be missed.”

Rich Pasco (IBM, Retired): “Jean Paul Jacob was my boss of sorts, in that he arranged my two trips to Brazil in the 1980’s to teach. I deeply respected his work in bringing about international collaboration on scientific and technical topics.”

Sonia Sachs (former IBM Almaden Researcher): “He always made me laugh. Jean Paul was incredibly selfless, never saying much about himself. Always listening. And he never let his illness reduce his incredible sense of humor, his interest in making our conversation light and happy. He said that he would find a way to communicate with me from the “Beleleu,” i.e., in the afterlife… We made a lot of jokes about the Beleleu conversations, all of which delighted Jean Paul. “

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Timeline

1937 (Jan) Brazil – Born São Paulo

1960 Brazil – Electrical Engineering degree from the Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica

1960-1962 Europe – France Industry and Academic Positions, including possible master’s degree at the Sorbonne in aeronautical engineering.

1962 Europe, Sweden, Stockholm – IBM Europe Nordics

1963 USA, CA, San Jose, IBM San Jose  – NASA Space Mission Simulations, and PhD Berkeley 1966 Math & Engineering

1969 Brazil – Faculty University of São Paulo (USP), the Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA) and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) – Systems Department.

1980 Brazil – Founded IBM Brazile Scientific Center and Institute for Software Engineering
(Fabio Gandour: “Jean Paul was the second person that I met when in the early 80’s I, still a practicing MD, went to IBM Brasil to propose a partnership between the Hospital Foundation of the Federal Disctric and the then IBM Brasil Scientific Center.”)

1986 USA, CA, San Jose – IBM Research Almaden – Research Staff Member (Visiting Scholar Stanford and Berkeley)
(Mike Foster: “In 1991, when I started at Almaden, he had offices in Almaden and in Building 28 on plant site.” On 20190618, Email Michael Foster mfoster@nhusd.k12.ca.us)

2002, USA, CA, Emeryville – Retired – IBM Researcher Emeritus Faculty Berkeley

2019, April 7 – Passed away, Emeryville, CA USA after a life well-lived.

Additional information: https://alchetron.com/Jean-Paul-Jacob