Michele Arneodo, professor of physics at the University of Piemonte Orientale and Chair elect of the CMS Collaboration Board, passed away on 12 August 2025 at the age of 65.
Born in Turin in 1959, Michele graduated with a degree in physics from the University of Turin in 1982. He was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to pursue graduate studies at Princeton University, where he received his MA in 1985 and his PhD in 1992. After beginning his career as a staff researcher at INFN Torino, he entered academia, becoming associate professor at the University of Calabria. In 1995, he moved to the University of Piemonte Orientale in Novara, where he became full professor in 2002.
Michele’s research career began with the European Muon Collaboration (NA2 and NA9) and the New Muon Collaboration (NA37) at CERN, investigating nucleon structure through the deep inelastic scattering of muons. He went on to play a leading role in the diffractive physics programme of the ZEUS experiment at DESY’s HERA collider, coordinating groups in Turin and Novara and overseeing the operation of the Leading Proton Spectrometer. After being awarded an Alexander von Humboldt fellowship, he worked at DESY between 1996 and 1999.
As the LHC era began, Michele devoted his efforts to CMS, becoming a central figure in diffractive physics and a relentless force behind the construction of the CMS Precision Proton Spectrometer (PPS) and the subsequent merging of the TOTEM and CMS collaborations. He was convener of the diffractive physics group, served on the CMS Publication and Style Committees, and chaired the Institution Board of the CMS PPS from 2014, where he was also resource manager and INFN national coordinator. He had been appointed Chair of the CMS Collaboration Board, and would have taken up the role later this year.
Teaching was a central part of Michele’s vocation. At the University of Piemonte Orientale he developed courses on radiation physics for medical students and radiology specialists, building bridges between particle physics and medical applications. He was widely recognised as a dedicated mentor, who was always attentive to the careers of younger collaborators.
We will remember Michele as an exceptionally talented physicist and a genuinely kind person, with a style and generosity of a bygone era. Always approachable, he was known for his smile, his sincere interest in others’ well-being, and his delicate sense of humour that lightened professional exchanges. His students and collaborators valued his constant encouragement and his passion for transmitting enthusiasm for physics and science.
While leaving a lasting mark on physics and the institutions he served, Michele also cultivated enduring friendships and dedicated himself fully to his family, to whom the thoughts of CMS and the wider CERN community go at this difficult time. He will rest forever in our hearts.
His Turin colleagues