Events and members news
- KIM YOON-SOO
Fellow Prof. Dr. Yoon Soo Kim has been elected the 18th President of the Chonnam National University (CNU), a leading university in South Korea. Professor Kim did his doctoral work in wood science in Vienna and postdoctoral studies at the University of Munich. In 1984 Professor Kim returned to South Korea to take up a faculty appointment at CNU, where he has stayed since, rising through academic and administrative ranks to the Presidency. Professor Kim established a leading research laboratory in wood science and trained several M.Sc. and Ph.D. students, some of whom now hold prominent academic positions. Professor Kim has been a frequent visitor to leading international centres in wood science and has collaborated with world leaders, particularly in the areas of wood formation, wood structure and wood biodegradation. He is an internationally recognised wood scientist and has established himself as a leader through his numerous high quality publications especially in the fields of general wood anatomy, bacterial and fungal wood degradation, as well as structure of archaeological and cultural heritage wood. Professor Kim has served his university and national science organisations in key leading roles. He was Dean of CNU`s graduate school from 2005 to 2008 and biological sciences Director of Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF). Professor Kim continues to serve on the editorial boards of prominent national and international wood science journals and has been active in the activities of IUFRO and IRG, two world wide forestry and wood science organizations. He was elected a Fellow of IAWS in 1998, the first Korean wood scientist to receive this honour. During his inaugural ceremony as new president of CNU on 20 August 2008, Fellow Kim promised to transform CNU into a global and dynamic institution and embrace regional society; CNU should get a place as one of the leading universities in the world. Presently, CNU is considered one of the top four Korean universities and in 2000 was named one of Asia`s best universities by Asia Week.
Dr. Kim at his inauguration
- ROBERTA FARRELL
Fellow Roberta Farrell, of Hamilton, received the Insignia of a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit at an investiture ceremony on 3 April 2009 for services to biochemical research. She is a researcher and teacher in biochemistry and biotechnology and has specialised in fundamental and applied studies of enzymes, cellulose, fungal ecology, and bio-control research and products. Her research has also investigated Antarctic microbial biodiversity and bioprospecting and the degradation of artefacts and historic wooden huts in Antarctica. She is a director of the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology and has contributed to a wide range of books and journals. Professor Farrell was elected a Fellow of the International Academy of Wood Science in 1990 and the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2005.
Fellow Frarrell has also received a Kudos Award. KuDos - the Hamilton Science Excellence Awards - were launched in June 2007 and are now an annual celebration of local scientific innovations impacting the Waikato region, New Zealand and the world. The citation was as follows: Science Entrepreneur of the Year. Roberta Farrell has been instrumental in leading the commercialisation of scientific research, most recently with two companies in Hamilton, Zygem and Parrac.
Photo by kind permission Woolf Images, Lambton Quay, Wellington, New Zealand
- FUMIAKI NAKATSUBO
Fellow Nakatsubo has received the Anselme Payen Award for 2008. This award which is in memory of the distinguished French scientist Anselme Payen is given by the Cellulose and renewable Materials Division of the American Chemical Society to honour and encourage outstanding contributions to the science and chemical technology of cellulose and its allied products. Professor Nakatsbo has published more than 150 papers related to the chemistry of wood components. He has made major contributions to the chemical synthesis of cello-oligosaccharides, the first chemical synthesis of cellulose by a ring-openmingpolymerization of glucose orthopivalate, the development of cellulosic photocurrent generation thin films, the preparation of oligo- and polylignols and their reactivities, and the chemical synthesis of tannins. The award consists of a bronze medal and an honorarium. Professor Nakatsubo has served on the Academy Board and as President and Vice-President of the Cellulose Society of Japan. He is presently at the School of Agriculture of Kyoto University.- TONY PIZZI
The 25,000€ Josef Umdasch Research Prize 2008 went to Prof. Dr. Antonio Pizzi and Dr. Marie-France Thévenon for their research project "PROBOR - Low or no-toxicity, environment-friendly proteins and vegetable oil borates as wood preservatives of natural origin" This scientific paper deals with research into a new preservative - based on environment-friendly and largely non-toxic substances - for timber in earth contact, and was written at the French research institution École Nationale Supérieure des Technologies et Industries du Bois (ENSTIB). The main prizewinners research topic was also the subject of discussion for a distinguished panel of experts at the first-ever "Josef Umdasch Research Dialogue". The Prize which recognizes outstanding achievements in the field of forestry and timber science was awarded for the ninth time at a function held on 26th November 2008 at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna.- JOSEPH BUONGIORNO
Fellow Buoingiorno has been awarded and honorary doctorate by the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB) at Ås. This award will take place at the celebration of UMB's 150 years anniversary on the 28th of May 2009. The nomination mentions "contributions towards decision modeling, economic forecasting, international trade and development planning related to sustainable management of forests".- PAUL WINISTORFER
Virginia Tech has named Paul Winistorfer as new Dean of the College of Natural Resources. Fellow Winistorfer currently heads the college's Department of Wood Science and Forest Products, and will assume the duties of Dean on August 1. He joined Virginia Tech in 2001 from the Forest Products Center at the University of Tennessee to head up the wood science and forest products department. With many connections to industry, he serves on the Board of Directors for Quintek Measurement Systems, a manufacturer of X-ray based equipment for the wood industry that he founded, and on the Board of Directors of WoodLINKS USA, where he is the outgoing president. WoodLINKS is an industry-education partnership to support manufacturing curricula in public schools, technical trade centers, communities, and universities. He reveived the Larry Hilchie Award for Outstanding Service and Commitment to WoodLINKS USA 2008, and served as president of the Forest Products Society in 2003. He was elected a Fellow in the International Academy of Wood Science in 2004, was coordinator of the forest products education unit of the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials. Among his many other awards and accomplishments, he holds a U.S. patent for an optical device to measure thickness swell of wood-based composites.- ARNO FRÜHWALD
Fellow Frühwald has been made an Honorary Professor by the Transylvanian University in Brasov/Romania (Faculty of Forestry) in October 2008. Following this award he will lecture in Brasov in June 2009.- Chinese Academy Forestry - 50th Anniversary
- Past-President Xavier Deglise invited to give a Keynote Address at the International conference FORTROP II "Tropical Forestry Change in a Changing World" in Kasetsart University Bangkok, Thailand,
- Fellow Arthur Ragauskas, Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has been selected as the first holder of the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Alternative Energy Technology at Chalmers University.
- Fellow Bjarn Holmbom 2008 Marcus Wallenberg Prize winner
The First International Conference on ADVANCED BIOMASS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR BIO-BASEED PRODUCTS
The First International Conference on ADVANCED BIOMASS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR BIO-BASEED PRODUCTS was organised at International Bamboo & Rattan Center Tower, Beijing, China, from May 23 to 25, 2007.
Madame Jiang meets Xavier DEGLISE
Madame Jiang Zehui meets Xavier Deglise
Madame Jiang Zehui, Fellow of International Academy of Wood Science (IAWS), President of Board of International Centre for Bamboo and Rattan (ICBR), meets Prof. Xavier DEGLISE (University of Nancy, France) IAWS President, during the "International Symposium on Advanced Biomass Science & Technology for Bio-based Products", at IBR Tower. They discussed the ways of developing exchange and cooperation on science and technology among IAWS, University of Nancy, Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAF) and ICBR.
Also attending the meeting were Prof. Yue Yongde, Executive Deputy Director General of ICBR, Prof. Fei Benhua, Deputy Director of CAF-ICBR Graduate School, and IAWS Fellows Mr. Xu Zhongyun (Southern Research Station of Forestry Department, Ministry of Agriculture, USA), Prof. Dr. Bunichiro TOMITA(University of Tsukuba, Japan),Tony Zhang ( FORINTEK, Canada), Prof. Bao Fucheng(CAF) and Prof. Chen Xuhe(ICBR).
Tenure promotion of fellow Art Ragauskas
Fellow Pizzi and his team receiving the 2005 Schweighofer Prize
Diploma of Fellow Pizzi finalist of the Descartes Research Prize 2005
Fellow Pizzi finalist of the Descartes Research Prize 2005
Fellow Jiang Zehui Forestry School Nancy, July 2006
Vice Dean Alekseev et Fellow Zarubine from St Petersburg
Academy of Forestry in Forestry School Nancy,
June 2006
Roni Aloni
Member of the German Academy of Natural Scientist
(2005)
Fellow Hillis (left)
Member of the Order of Australia
(2003)
