Jacob PALIS is a Professor at the Instituto Nacional de Matemática Pura e Aplicada (IMPA) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and its former Director (1993-2003). He is a graduate of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. His primary research is in the area of dynamical systems, to which he made fundamental contributions - culminating with the proposal of a comprehensive program to understand most chaotic systems and thus generating a great deal of scientific activity. His intellectual leadership was also behind the formation of an accomplished school of dynamicists in Latin America. Dr. Palis was President of the International Mathematical Union and Vice-President of ICSU. He is now a member of the Science Institute Group - Princeton, chair of the ICTP Scientific Council, member of the Scientific Advisory Board - Collège de France and ETH - Zurich Math Institute, and serves as a consultant to several international research and educational agencies, including UNESCO, the U.S. NSF, CONICYT in Chile, CONACYT in Mexico, and CSIC in Uruguay; and has coordinated joint research projects in mathematics between Brazil and the United States, France, the Soviet Union, England, Chile, Mexico, and other countries. Dr. Palis is Secretary General of the Third World Academy of Sciences, a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, and a foreign member of the Indian, Chilean, French, Mexican, and United States Academies of Sciences. He has been awarded several national and international prizes.
Ismail SERAGELDIN is the Director of the newly established Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt, and he chairs the Boards of Directors for each of the seven research institutes and three museums affiliated with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Previously he served as Vice President of the World Bank (1992-2000); Chairman of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR, 1994-2000); Chairman of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP), a micro-finance program (1995-2000); Chairman of the Global Water Partnership (GWP, 1996-2000); and Chairman of the World Commission for Water in the 21st Century (1998-2000). Dr. Serageldin worked in a number of capacities at the World Bank (1972-2000) and has published and lectured widely. He holds a Bachelor of Science in engineering from Cairo University and master's and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University, and he has received 15 honorary doctorates. Dr. Serageldin currently serves as Distinguished Professor at Wageningen University in the Netherlands and as Chair and member of a number of advisory committees for academic, research, scientific, and international institutions' and civil-society efforts. He is a Fellow of the Third World Academy of Sciences.
Panelists
Jorge ALLENDE is a Professor in the Institute for Biomedical Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile. Dr. Allende made pivotal contributions to the understanding of protein synthesis through his characterization of elongation factors and mammalian aminoacyl-transfer RNA synthetases. He was also a pioneer in studying the mechanism of hormonal induction of amphibian oocyte maturation. In more recent years, Dr. Allende has been studying the structure, function and regulation of two ubiquitous protein kinases, CK1 and CK2, that are involved in the phosphorylation of key cellular proteins. In addition to his prominence in scientific research, Dr. Allende has been a leader, both nationally and internationally, in the field of science education and in the establishment of scientific networks in Latin America. He is the current President of the International Cell Research Organization and President of the Council of Advisors on Health Research of the Pan-American Health Organization. He is a member and former President of the Chilean Academy of Sciences, a member of the Latin American Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the Third World Academy of Sciences, and a Foreign Associate of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and of the U.S. Institute of Medicine.
Catherine BRÉCHIGNAC is a Professor of Physics at the Laboratoire Aimé Cotton in Orsay, France. From 1997-2001, she was Directeur Général of France's Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). She is a specialist in the interdisciplinary study of the nanophysics of 'aggregates,' small clusters of a few thousand to a few million atoms. A graduate of Ecole Normale Supérieure, Dr. Bréchignac began her career in atomic physics and made significant contributions to the understanding of radiative collisions between atoms in laser light. She has been scientific director of the Physical Sciences and Mathematics Department of CNRS, and director of the Aimé Cotton Laboratory in Orsay. Dr. Bréchignac is a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor and received the Academy of Sciences award in 1991 and the CNRS Silver Medal in 1994. She is a member of the French Academy of Sciences.
Ledivina V. CARIÑO is a University Professor at the University of the Philippines, that institution's highest academic rank, and is a former dean of the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance. She received a Ph.D. in sociology from Indiana University (USA) in 1970, after having obtained a Bachelor of Arts in public administration from the University of the Philippines and a Master of Arts in political science from the University of Hawaii. Dr. Cariño was elected to the Philippine National Academy of Science and Technology in 1995 and has served as Secretary of its Executive Council since 2002. Her research has focused on the evolution, structure, and process of public administration in developing nations, with special attention to issues of local governance, corruption and ethics, democratic public administration, and voluntary sector management.
Muhammad I. CHOUDHARY is Professor of Chemistry and Acting Director of the Hussein Ebrahim Jamal (HEJ) Research Institute of Chemistry, the largest academic research institute of the University of Karachi, Pakistan. He also heads that institution's single-crystal X-ray diffraction and molecular modeling laboratories. His work in X-ray crystallography has resulted in determination of the 3-D structure of several dozen novel products, both natural to the marine environment and synthetic. The plant-screening laboratory of H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, working under Dr. Choudhary's guidance, is carrying out a screening program for the active components of plants and animals commonly found in Pakistan. He has over 300 research publications in leading international journals and is the co-author of two books. Dr. Choudhary was the Secretary-General of the Chemical Society of Pakistan (1995-1998), Editor of the COMSTECH Newsletter, member of the Executive Council of ANRAP, and Fellow of LEAD International. He is a Fellow of the Third World Academy of Sciences and the Islamic Academy of Sciences.
Thomas EGWANG is Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Medical Parasitology at the Medical Biotechnology Laborities in Kampala, Uganda. Recently named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Scholar, he received his Ph.D. in immunology from McMaster University in Canada in 1984 and did postdoctoral research in the United States at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and the University of California, Berkeley, and in Gabon at the Centre Internationale de Recherches Médicales de Franceville. His recent research has been in the area of biochemical drug targets and antiparasitic-drug resistance. In 1995, Dr. Egwang received the Career Development Award from the World Health Organization. He is a Fellow of the Third World Academy of Sciences.
Julia MARTON-LEFÈVRE is Executive Director of Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD) International. Prior to her joining LEAD, she was the Executive Director of the International Council for Science (ICSU) in Paris. She serves on the boards of numerous international organizations, including: the World Resources Institute (as Vice Chair), the International Institute for Environment and Development, and the environmental advisory boards to the Dow Chemical Company and The Coca Cola Company. She is also a Trustee of the St. Andrews Prize and the 1999 recipient of the AAAS Award for International Cooperation in Science. She has degrees in history, ecology, and environmental policy. Born in Hungary, she holds both French and U.S citizenships.
Mamphela RAMPHELE is Managing Director for Human Development at the World Bank. In this capacity she oversees the Bank's activities in health, education, social protection and the use of information and communication technologies to enhance capacity for knowledge-based development. She joined the World Bank in May 2000. Dr. Ramphele started her career in South Africa in the 1970s as a student activist in the Black Consciousness Movement. She has worked as a medical doctor, civil -rights leader, community-development worker, academic researcher, and university administrator. Joining the University of Cape Town as a research fellow in 1986, she was appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor five years later. In September 1996, Dr. Ramphele took up the post of Vice Chancellor, becoming the first black woman to serve in this position at a South African university. She holds an M.D. from the University of Natal, a Ph.D. in social anthropology from the University of Cape Town, a B.Com. in administration from the University of South Africa, and diplomas in tropical health and hygiene and public health from the University of Witwatersrand. She was elected to the South African National Academy of Sciences in 1995.
Neil L. RUDENSTINE is Chair of the Advisory Board of ARTstor at the A.W. Mellon Foundation in New York. He was President of Harvard University from 1991 to 2001 and served as Executive Vice President of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation from 1988 to 1991. During the two preceding decades, he was a faculty member and senior administrator at Princeton University. A scholar of Renaissance literature, Dr. Rudenstine was a professor of English who went on to hold the posts of Dean of Students (1968-1972), Dean of the College (1972-1977), and Provost (1977-1988). Previously, he served at Harvard from 1964 to 1968 as an Instructor and then an assistant Professor in the Department of English and American Literature and Language. He received his bachelor's degree from Princeton in 1956 and studied for the next three years as a Rhodes Scholar at New College, Oxford University, where he earned a second B.A. and an M.A. In 1964, he was awarded a Ph.D. in English from Harvard.
P.N. TANDON is Emeritus Professor at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, and Megh Nad Shah Distinguished Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy. A neurosurgeon by profession, he is a Fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences and past President of the Indian National Science Academy and the Neurology Society of India. Dr. Tandon is also a Fellow of the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and the Third World Academy of Sciences; the President of the National Brain Research Centre; former Co-Chairman of the InterAcademy Panel on International Issues; and an elected member of IBRO, the Society of Neurological Surgeons (USA), the Society of Neurosciences (USA), and the Royal Society of Medicine (UK). He has edited 14 monographs and two books and has published over 200 scientific papers. Dr. Tandon has been a member of the Science Advisory Council to the Indian Prime Minister and is a recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the national award - Padma Bhusan - from the President of India.
ZHAO Shidong is a Research Professor of Forest Ecology at the Institute of Geographic Science and Natural Resource Research (IGSNRR), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Vice-Chair of the Scientific Committee of the Chinese Ecosystem Research Network. He graduated from the Department of Forestry of N.W. Agricultural University in 1963 and received his Ph.D. from the Institute of Applied Ecology of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1967. Since then, Dr. Zhao has been doing research on the taxonomy and distribution of plants, the effects of human activities on ecosystem biodiversity, the impacts of climate change on ecosystems, land-use change, and the structure, function, dynamics, and management of ecosystems. He has published over 100 papers and 14 books on these subjects. As a visiting scientist, Dr. Zhao did research in the School of Natural Resources, University of Michigan, from 1983 to 1985. He has also been working on several international programs as a member of the Steering Committee of International Long-term Ecological Research (ILTER), the Assessment Panel of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), and the Regional Vice-Chair of Commission of Ecosystem Management, IUCN.
Study panel staff
John P. CAMPBELL (Study Director) is Associate Director of the InterAcademy Council. He has been Director of the May 2000 World Conference of Academies on a Transition to Sustainability in the 21st Century, in Tokyo; Staff Officer of a joint U.S. National Academy of Sciences-Mexican Academy of Sciences review of graduate programs of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), in Mexico City; Director of the June 1996 World Forum of Academies of Science and Engineering on the Future of Cities, in Istanbul; Staff Officer of the October 1993 'World Population: Summit of the World's Scientific Academies' in New Delhi; and Project Director of the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable's Working Group on the Academic Research Enterprise, U.S. National Academies, in Washington, D.C.
Steven J. MARCUS (Report Editor) is an editorial consultant. He has been Editor-in- Chief of Technology Review, a magazine published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Editor-in-Chief of Issues in Science and Technology, a journal of the U.S. National Academies; and Executive Editor of High Technology magazine. He has also worked in daily journalism as a business reporter for the New York Times and as Science/Medicine Editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
