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As we all know by now, this journal and the worldwide rock mechanics community suffered a great loss when Giovanni Barla passed away on the 18th of November 2019. Professor Barla was always associated with the Politecnico di Torino, where he got his initial degree in mining engineering and, after getting advanced degrees and teaching at Columbia University in New York, where he became a faculty member and also held leadership positions. Giovanni Barla’s contributions to rock mechanics and rock engineering are multifaceted, ranging from research with laboratory experimentation and numerical modeling to work in practical engineering involving the entire range of rock related problems. The passion and experience he conveyed in his lectures are landmarks for generations of students and colleagues.

With his unique and all-encompassing contributions to rock mechanics and rock engineering, our journal was fortunate that he became its Editor in 2001. Since then, the journal not only grew, but Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering and Giovanni Barla became synonymous. He looked at every submission when it came in and made the final decision. The authors and readers of our journal as well as his colleagues on the editorial board benefitted from the thoughtful considerations that went into his decisions. It is particularly remarkable that all this was done with courtesy and kindness.

Giovannni Barla’s contributions to our beloved interest area were recognized by many national and international awards but the most long-lasting one is this journal.


We would like to thank Giovanni


Mariacristina Bonini, Assistant Editor; Herbert Einstein and Kalman Kovari, Co-Editors; Silvia Schilgerius, SpringerNature