Jean-Luc D'Hautcourt - a great loss to cytometry

We are sad to report to our membership the news that Jean-Luc D'Hautcourt passed away this past 12 October, 2005.

Jean-Luc was President of the L'association Française de Cytométrie (French Association of Cytometry) from 1997 to 2000. Although Jean-Luc was president of the French Cytometry Society he was a Belgian citizen and was also one of the founding members of the Belgian Society for Cytometry

He was a good personal friend, a great friend of ISAC and all cytometry.

Dirk Van Bockstaele recalls the late seventies when probably the first cytometer in Belgium was installed (an Ortho cytofluorograf 50H) in the Antwerp lab, Jean-Luc was at that time working as a technical representative for Ortho Diagnostics. Jean-Luc later moved into a hospital clinical laboratory where he remained.

During his many years in clinical cytometry, Jean-Luc recognized the importance of quality control, education and mentorship. His attention to details in the clinical laboratory setting drove a number of  initiatives for proper education to unlock the many hidden secrets of flow cytometry techniques. During his term as President of the L'association Française de Cytométrie, Jean-Luc was responsible for helping to make the 2000 ISAC congress in Montpellier a great success.

Jean-Luc was always a great flow enthusiast who kept emphasizing continuous education for novices in  flow cytometry techniques and constantly maintained a position stressing the importance of correct performance of flow cytometric measurements. Both the European and world community benefited greatly from Jean-Luc’s efforts and passion in this regard.

All those who knew Jean-Luc knew him as not only a great lover of flow cytometry but also a great lover of the good things in live (ah... the French/Belgian cuisine and French wine!! ... and the Belgian beers..). Jean-Luc’s permanent and contagious smile endeared him to those he met. He will be missed by all of us in the various scientific communities in which he served. From the world of cytometry we offer our sincere condolences to his wife and 13 children.

Thank you Jean-Luc for your presence and your friendship.

Our condolences go to his family and of course all the members of the Belgian Cytometry Society and French Association of Cytometry, which Jean-Luc served with dedication and distinction.

We will all miss this man greatly.

Dirk Van Bockstaele DrSc (Belgian Society for Analytical Cytology)
J. Paul Robinson, PhD (International Society for Analytical Cytology)