On the 20th November 2009 friends, family and former colleagues gathered in LSE's Shaw Library to celebrate the work and contributions of the late Professor Antoine Faure-Grimaud (1968-2009). "It is with great sadness that we lose Antoine," opened Professor David Webb, Head of the Department of Finance, "but we were extremely fortunate to have him as a colleague and friend. He had an acute intellect and a marvellous sense of humour. He was great fun and we miss him in so many ways."
The Memorial event brought together a number of prominent academics from both LSE and the wider academic community whose lives had been touched by Antoine, each one offering their own unique tribute to his work and character.
Patrick Bolton opened proceedings with a presentation of "Satisficing Contracts", one of Antoine's last major projects, which aimed to determine the future direction of the field of contract theory.
This was followed by David Martimort's recollection of Antoine as a young PhD student in Toulouse. Martimort made specific reference to the influence of the work of John Tirole on Antoine's subsequent study of supervision with soft information and the convexity of agency costs.
Next to present was Denis Gromb, who began by detailing the secrets of his successful partnership with Antoine: a great complementarity between the two men, complete collaboration, absolute trust and total respect. He then presented "Public Trading and Private Incentives", co-written with Antoine, which studied the link between institutional investors behaviour and public trading.
Finally, John Tirole presented "How to jump-start a market: Thinking about markets in the tradition of Antoine Faure-Grimaud" and spoke of Antoine's invaluable contribution to multiple areas of Corporate Finance.
The presentations of Antoine's work were followed by tributes from a number of his former colleagues and students. John Moore (LSE Department of Economics) and Vassilis Hajivassiliou (LSE Department of Economics) both made particular reference to Antoine's dedication to, and love of, the LSE - both the institution and its people - and his family. Sudipto Bhattacharya (LSE Department of Finance), Leonoardo Felli (LSE Department of Economics) and Jean Charles Rochet (University of Toulouse) highlighted Antoine's great talent as a storyteller and noted what an enormous privilege it was to have him as a colleague and friend, and finally Sridhar Arcot gave a tribute on behalf of Antoine's PhD students, illustrating their close relationship with examples of Antoine's kindness and support.
David Webb concluded the testimonials with an overview of Antoine's experience at the LSE, including his time at the FMG and the Departments of Economics, Management and Finance, and also his major contribution to, and interest in the life of, the institution. He then detailed several initiatives that will be implemented in Antoine's memory, including a new and perpetual scholarship for the PhD Finance and annual MSc prizes in his name.
The presentations and tributes were followed by dinner at the LSE's Senior Dining Room. Soenje Reiche, Antoine's wife, thanked all of those who had participated in the event, with particular reference to those closest to Antoine who were especially supportive during his period of illness.