I first met George by telephone in 1973 while I was still a post-doc in Sta Cruz.  The brief interaction gave a strong impression of an intelligent and caring person and when I interviewed at UCLA a few months later, he was the first person I sought.  His office then was in Kinsey Hall pretty much all by himself which somewhat puzzled me.  Phil Thornber showed me the long way over there and we had time for him to give me a history of Botany/Zoology and the Ag sciences at UCLA and the evolution of the Biology Department.  George met me as if we were old and good friends and I remember feeling comfortable enough to ask him whether a small town girl like me would find happiness at the big "U" in the big City.  I think George was a bit surprised at the question, and I think it was because George took it for granted that UCLA had the best environment for scholarly success. Over the many years I knew him, he never gave a different impression. 
        George was a consummate intellectual, always ready to engage in intelligent conversation whatever the topic.  George's love of the English language and its uses (and abuses) were passionate interests.  George and I shared the Plant Physiology course for about 10 years. He was particularly interested in the development and evolution of ideas as they related to our understanding of various plant phenomena.  He was pretty "keen"- a favorite word- on having students develop curiosity beyond the mere known facts.  George exemplified the ideal of colloquy that included all students(graduate/undergraduate), technicians, post-docs, faculty and all that he encouraged to feel free to contribute to the free-ranging discussions.

Elma Gonzalez
Dept. of Organismic Biology, Ecology and Evolution
University of California, Los Angeles