In praise of Professor Lotfi Zadeh

It scarcely seems possible that Professor Lotfi Zadeh is 90 years old, and that I have known him for 49 years. Since 1961, every time I meet him, he never seems to age in his uniform of black dress pants and hounds-tooth checkered sports coat. Of course, he himself has humorously and self- deprecatingly characterized that once you sank to the lowest point, you cannot age anymore. I prefer to think of him as ageless and forever generous, especially with young scholars.