François Garin: Pioneer work in catalysis through synchrotron radiation

Starting from the late seventies, the progressively increased availability of beamlines dedicated to X-ray absorption spectroscopy allowed the execution of experiments in chemistry. In this manuscript, I describe the contribution of François Garin at the frontier of heterogeneous catalysis and synchrotron radiation. Working at LURE as a scientific in charge of a beamline dedicated to X-ray absorption spectroscopy during almost twenty years and thus, having the opportunity to discuss with research groups working in heterogeneous catalysis in Europe as well as in the United States, it was quite easy to show that his work is clearly at the origin of current research in heterogeneous catalysis, not only in France, but in different synchrotron radiation centres.