Some of the major contributions of the French metallurgist Claude Rossard (1929-1989) to the investigation of the hot working of steels are briefly reviewed. Using mainly hot compression testing, Rossard was among the first to investigate both continuous and discontinuous dynamic recrystallization, as well as post-dynamic recrystallization and its interactions with precipitation. It is our purpose here to encourage materials scientists to read or re-read Rossard's works.