Honors and Distinctions in 2000

Prof. Dr. Aguzzi Adriano, Full Professor of Neuropathology, won the EUR 30,000 first prize of the 2000 Biotec Award for his outstanding work in the area of biomedical research. He was also appointed an Individual Member by the Senate of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences.

Prof. Dr. Bachofen Reinhard, Professor Emeritus of General Botany, was honored with the "Recognition Award for outstanding contributions to the International Symposium on Subsurface Microbiology."

Prof. Dr. Basler Konrad, Full Professor of Molecular Biology, won the CHF 1.8 million 2000 Louis Jeantet Preize for Medicine together with two other prizewinners. This distinction was conferred on him for his discovery of proteins which signal limb development during the embryonic phase ("morphogens"). He was also elected a member of Academia Europaea.

Prof. Dr. Bauknecht Kurt, Full Professor of Informatics, was awarded an honorary doctorate in Technical Sciences by the Johannes Kepler Universität Linz.

Prof. Dr. Bernoulli Daniel, Professor Emeritus of Geology, was awarded the Prestwich Prize by the Société Géologique de France.

Prof. Dr. Billeter Martin A., Professor Emeritus of Molecular Biology, received the following three honors: Appointment as Corresponding Member of the Society for Virology, a gold medal and prize from the Scientific Research Foundation (Stiftung für wissenschaftliche Forschung) and appointment as a Member of Academia Europaea.

Prof. Dr. Cook Christopher D. K., Professor Emeritus of Systematic Botany, was awarded both the prestigious David Fairchild Medal and the Prize for Plant Exploration by the US National Botanical Garden, an organization dedicated to the promotion of tropical botany.

Prof. Dr. Douglas Rodney J.,Full Professor of Theoretical Neuroinformatics, and four other prize-winners received the 2000 Körber European Science Award worth DM 1.5 million for their research program entitled "Form perception in technology using knowledge taken from nature". This is Germany's most highly endowed science award.

Prof. Dr. Endress Peter K., Full Professor of Systematic Botany, was chosen to become a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

Das Department of Geography received a "Special Achievement in GIS Award" from the Environmental Systems Research Institute in California.

Gsponer Jörg, Department of Biochemistry, was conferred with the 2002 "Prix Docteur César Roux" by the University of Lausanne.

Hermann Michael und Leuthold Heiri, Department of Geography, were the first recipients of the "Die goldene Brille – Prix Media 2000" (Golden Glasses – 2000 Media Award) presented by the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences (SAGW). This prize is worth CHF 10,000.

Prof. Dr. Keller Beat, Full Professor of Plant Biology, was elected Vice President Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences.