The early fall weather Sept. 24 was stunning; the birds were singing (well, screeching) -- and most importantly, friends and colleagues of Robert Richardson, the Floyd Newman Professor of Physics, 1996 Nobel laureate and Cornell's vice provost for research, were eager to show their appreciation for his work.

So, a party was in order.

Dozens gathered to honor Richardson and his wife, senior physics lecturer Betty Richardson, on the patio outside Duffield Hall. Richardson, who is recovering from a recent stroke, assumes a new role as senior science adviser to Provost Biddy Martin and President David Skorton. Meanwhile, the vice provost for research baton passes to physicist Robert Buhrman.

"My stroke has severely impaired my eloquence," said Richardson, dapper as ever with bow tie and gentle smile. "So I would just say, thank you, thank you, thank you."

"I think it is also important to point out this is not the last chance we're going to have to honor Bob," noted Hunter Rawlings, Cornell president emeritus and classics professor. Rawlings used the occasion to announce plans for an academic symposium next spring (date to be announced in coming weeks) built around Richardson's contributions as a scientist and policy-maker.

"Bob and Betty have been part of the Cornell community for more than 40 years," Rawlings said. "Bob is the most loyal of all Cornellians I know. And he believes in Cornell's unique mission -- a mission that combines theory and practice in a unique way, a way that has made Cornell an extremely unusual institution in the world."

Joanne M. DeStefano, vice president for financial affairs and university controller, then paid tribute to Richardson's personal side, which she got to know through years together in the stands at Cornell football games. She presented him with a custom Cornell football, embroidered with his name and signed by the team.

Richardson shared the Nobel Prize in physics with David M. Lee, Cornell professor of physics, and Douglas Osheroff (Cornell Ph.D. 1973), now a physics professor at Stanford University, for their 1971 discovery that the helium isotope helium-3 can be made to flow without resistance -- a state called superfluidity -- at about two-thousandths of a degree above absolute zero.

As vice provost, Richardson helped solidify Cornell's position as a leader in the sciences as a member of the Research Futures Task Force, which identified core areas of research -- materials science, genomics and nanoscale science -- that would become a major focus for Cornell investment. He has also been highly influential at the national level, with service on the National Science Board, which oversees broad policy issues related to science and engineering research, and education.

"People respect his plain old common sense," said Sol Gruner, director of the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source, who was recruited by Richardson in 1997. "And he has a gift of being able to explain complex things to people who are not necessarily scientists."

"I don't think there's anyone who has his breadth of knowledge," said Charles Fay, vice provost for research administration. "Bob's knowledge about the science agenda of this country has been vital in taking Cornell's strengths forward to the national level."

"He encourages people to think far out into the future. He does that with great aplomb," added John Abowd, director of the Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research. "His are some very big shoes to fill."

Buhrman, on the topic of filling those shoes, agreed. "It's terrifying," he joked (sort of). "He's a very hard act to follow."