Laureate 2001
Jean-Pierre Jobin

2001 Prize awarded to Jean-Pierre Jobin, General Manager of Geneva International Airport

Monday, September 17, 2001 at 6:00 pm, Grand Théâtre, Geneva

The ceremony took place at the Grand Théâtre in Geneva on September 17, 2001, in a sold-out foyer.

The Secretary of State for Science and Research, Charles Kleiber, a Jura native like Jean-Pierre Jobin, was pleased to praise his long-time friend: “A happy youth that structures and supports him, a family that feeds him – and that he feeds – the airplane that makes him dream: in addition, something was needed to give a point of application to his energy and transform it into collective action. This is the company, and this company can only be an airport where the engineer and the pilot can coexist. The Geneva airport had the good taste to offer itself to him in 1969. He was 28 years old. He learns, he gets intoxicated with work, he becomes more mature. But experience does not kill youthfulness, prudence does not stifle the taste for risk and the pleasure of playing; collegiality does not prevent irony and the liveliness of repartee. At 42 years old, he is the General Manager, a leader among leaders, master of a territory that he can control. (…) Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen of the Fondation pour Genève, you are about to present the prize of your Foundation to Jean-Pierre Jobin. You have chosen a Catholic, a jurassian, an agitator, a flag-burner, a rebel, an average student on file with the federal police, an unrepentant gambler, a pilot without a plane, a goalkeeper without a goal. You have chosen a man who is generous to others and to Geneva, a great director of your airport, which is also the airport of all of Switzerland. This choice honors you and honors Geneva.