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José Goldemberg: 90 years of the scientist and public manager

by Richard Meckien - published Jun 08, 2018 11:55 AM - - last modified Jun 13, 2018 05:15 PM
Rights: Original version in Portuguese by Mauro Bellesa.

José Goldemberg - março de 2018
Physicist José Goldemberg during a conference he gave at the IEA in March

Nuclear physicist, and specialist in sustainable energy, education and the environment, José Goldemberg reached the age of 90 on May 27. He is still active in both academic and public management, an activity that accompanies his research career since 1986, when he became the first president of USP after the Brazilian re-democratization.

Current chairman of the São Paulo Research Foundation's Board of Governors, Goldemberg has received numerous honors for his 90th birthday. The creation of the IEA during his first year as president has been highlighted as one of the important contributions for the academic development of the country.

One of the honors was the dedication of the 5th Regional Conference on Global Changes: Renewable Energies, Forests and Future of International Negotiations, held on June 5 and 6, to him.

In addition to having been USP's president, Goldemberg has been Minister of Education, National Secretary of Science and Technology, National Secretary of Environment, State Secretary of Environment in São Paulo, and president of São Paulo's Energy Company (CESP) and of the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science.

Professor Emeritus from USP's Institute of Energy and Environment (IEE), and honorary professor of the IEA, Goldemberg was honored in 2008 with the Blue Planet Award, granted by the Asahi Glass Foundation and considered one of the most important ones in the environmental area. He also received the Conrad Wessel Foundation Science Award (2014) and the Volvo Environmental Award (2000), as well as the Grand Cross of the National Order of Scientific Merit (1995).

Patron of the IEA, Goldemberg has participated in several achievements throughout the Institute's nearly 32-year history. His most recent performance was the speech he delivered in March at the UBIAS Directors' Conference, biennial event of the network that has the IEA among its founders and professor Guilherme Ary Plonski, deputy director of the Institute, as chairman of the Steering Committee.

While speaking of Goldemberg's constant participation at the IEA, it is impossible not to mention his participation in the team that produced the Floram Project in 1990. This project foresaw a Brazilian contribution to the 50-year delay in the risk of global warming caused by greenhouse gases through the forest recovery in 2.3% of the country's territory. During the period, the international community could reduce that risk through the development of sustainable energy technologies.

Photo: Leonor Calasans/IEA-USP