"Good afternoon and thank you for coming to this special occasion. On behalf of the family of Werner Seligmann and the faculty, staff and students of the School of Architecture I welcome all of you to this memorial service and celebration of the life of Werner Seligmann. Werner, as you know, was Distinguished Professor of Architecture at Syracuse University, a member of the faculty from 1976 and dean of the School of Architecture from 1976 to 1990.

This event may not be an easy task but it is one that is most deserving of our presence today. I was privileged, like many of you, to have had Werner as a teacher, career supporter, and ultimately as a colleague and friend. Which is to say in its totality, as you might imagine, our relationship became a bit complicated at times, but I would not have wished it otherwise. We shared this deanship, as well, and no one should be under any illusion as to the origins of the excellence that this school represents today. It is in my mind his finest legacy. It was also most appropriate that he received the ACSA/AIA Topaz Award for his contributions to architectural education last March. I do know how pleased he was and how pleased you, his colleagues, were for him.

That there is a lot of talent gathered here this afternoon is a most fitting acknowledgement of the extent of his influence as a teacher and as an architect. We all know that Werner had a passion for architecture that somehow challenged all who knew him. And we are certainly here today because he instilled by example the conviction that the act of teaching and the education of future architects was a high calling and one that deserved utmost respect and dedication.

But there was also his love of music and I shall remember best those moments with him and Jean at the Heinz Holligger concert in Zurich and the summer opera at Glimmerglass. Good food, good music, good conversation and of course inevitable discussions about architecture and always the direction of the school. His was a fully engaged life.

I shall leave the telling of tales to the other speakers today. But in closing I can only imagine Werner giving crits to his other now departed architecture collegues about space, 'schlotzs" and the inappropriateness of crossed corners. What might Corbu, Wright and Palladio be thinking of all that energy? Surely, he made a difference.

Godspeed Werner, we miss you."

Bruce Abbey