The Mathematics of Gérard Lopez and Maurice Pouzet
Youssef Boudabbous, Lucien Haddad and Nejib Zaguia
This special issue of the Journal of Multiple-Valued Logic and Soft Computing is devoted to Honor Gérard Lopez and Maurice Pouzet, two mathematicians with contributions to the mathematical community that cannot be overstated. As anyone who has met them knows, Gérard and Maurice are unique. It is not just their scientific achievements that make them unique, even though there is a long list of them. Rather, they are unique because of their dynamic personalities, their infectious enthusiasm, and their love for mathematics. They have dedicated part of their professional lives to the development of Discrete Mathematics in North Africa and specially to the team of Combinatorics of Sfax (Tunisia) lead by Youssef Boudabbous. They have accomplished this through the direction of many students, repeated visits to the region, and the creation of cooperative programs involving their home institutes and universities in North Africa. They have inspired and encouraged networking among young North African researchers. Their generosity, kindness and exceptional good human character helped warming the human relations and close scientific collaboration with their students. This bond of friendship is now extended to their second generation students.