Manfred Morari's years of graduate studies at the University of Minnesota (1974-1977), coincided with an intense period of fertile reexamination of control theory and its relevance to the industrial practice, that led to new questions and challenges, which defined Manfred's PhD research and determined the directions in which he would reshape the academic landscape and industrial practice. These questions and their resolution are today part of the mainstream: control structures for chemical plants; design of processes with desired operability, resiliency, and flexibility; design of robust controllers; inferential control. Manfred's impact is, by now, part of an exceptional personal record: groundbreaking papers and books, patented industrial devices and systems, and an influential family of academic off-springs. Here, the author will describe the control theory and practice milieu during Manfred's formative years, and underline certain factors (which unfortunately have weakened considerably in the last 30 years) that defined his successful professional trajectory. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.