The legacy of Prof. Gabriel Freire to contemporary research on microwave photonics at ITA

This paper highlights some of what, from the author´s perspective, were notable contributions of Prof. Gabriel Freire to the advancement of microwave photonics at ITA, Brazil. For nearly three decades, beginning in the early 1960s when he completed Master´s and PhD programs in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, he was a driving force in the development of ITA´s graduate studies program. He was without a doubt a very good researcher, a learned scholar, and an inspiring teacher who kindled the spirit of discovery in his students. The paper intersperses his academic achievements with a few personal reminiscences provided by his former students and attempts to review his notable legacy to microwave photonics.