On Thursday, March 6, 2025, in the historic hall of the Bibliothèque des Lettres, the École normale supérieure, the ENS Foundation, and the La Ferthé Foundation held an evening in memory of Gérard Toulouse. Gérard Toulouse was an ENS alumnus, agrégé, and PhD in Physics, as well as a theoretical physicist and research director at CNRS. His contributions to physics include work on condensed matter and the Kondo effect.
The evening began with a welcome address by Frédéric Worms, director of ENS, who reflected on Gérard Toulouse’s career and the ENS initiatives that continue his intellectual legacy. He was later joined by Marc Mézard, physicist and former director of ENS, Jean-Pierre Nadal, a physicist applying statistical physics to economics, and Bernard Derrida, a physics professor at the Collège de France. Together, they shared memories of Gérard Toulouse at ENS.
Following them, Mathias Girel, philosopher and head of the Centre Cavaillès at ENS, Stéphanie Ruphy, philosopher and director of the Espace chair, and Jacques Bordé, physicist and head of European relations at CNRS, discussed the ethics of science through the legacy of Gérard Toulouse.
Recognized for his teaching and research career in physics, Gérard Toulouse was also deeply committed to scientific ethics, human rights, and inclusion at ENS. Staying true to this legacy, the family foundation La Ferthé, which he founded with his siblings, has chosen to support several ENS initiatives, particularly Femmes et Sciences, the library, and CAPHES (Center for Archives in Philosophy, History, and Publishing of Science).