Abstract：George Herbig, one of the giants of 20th century astronomy, almost singlehandedly founded the study of young stars, a subject on which he worked for more than 60 years. In this presentation I will briefly talk about Herbig's life, but the emphasis will be on the scientific results that Herbig achieved, first at Lick Observatory and later at the University of Hawaii. In addition to his work on star formation, Herbig became the leader in the study of diffuse interstellar bands, and he had an insatiable appetite for rare and exotic stars on which he published many detailed studies. Herbig was also a master instrument builder, who designed and built many of the instruments he used for his research.

  Prof. Bo Reipurth received his PhD from the University of Copenhagen in 1981. He worked at the European Southern Observatory in Chile for 11 years as Director of Research. In 1997 he moved to USA, where he was Research Professor at the University of Colorado for 4 years, until his present position as Professor at the University of Hawaii. During his career he has focused on various aspects of the formation of stars.