Subject: [IGSMAIL-2607] Martine Feissel Dr. h.c.
From: Gerhard Beutler
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 1999 5:00:38 PST

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IGS Electronic Mail      Sun Dec  5  5:00:38 PST 1999      Message Number 2607
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Author: Gerhard Beutler
Subject: Martine Feissel Dr. h.c.

Dear colleagues and friends,

we would like to draw your attention to a few events having taken place
in Bern, Switzerland during the weekend of December 3-5, 1999. The
events are related "in a certain sense" and "to some extent" to
fundamental astronomy, geodynamics, and to geodetic services:

On December 4, 1999, on the occasion of the "Dies Academicus" of the
University of Bern, Martine Feissel was presented the distinguished
degree of a

 "Doctor philosophiae honoris causa, Dr. h.c"

based on the following considerations ("laudatio"):

"  Martine Feissel

   quae semper maximo studio dedit operam, ut in rebus, quae ad
   fundamentalem quae dicitur scientiam astronomicam et ad virium
   motuumque terrarum doctrinam pertinent, investigatorum consuetudines
   et connexiones non modo inter gentes sed etiam inter disciplinas
   augerentur; quae illud institutum condidit, quod "Inernational Earth
   Rotation Service" (omnium gentium ad terrae rotationem observandam
   sedes) apellatur; quae in ea sede et condenda et per multos annos
   administranda optime est merita."

For those of us having forgotten some of the Latin we learned at school
the following "executive summary" may be helpful:

   "To Martine Feissel

   the great promotor of international and interdisciplinary
   collaboration in Fundamental Astronomy and Geodynamics in
   recognition of her merits when creating and directing the
   Central Bureau of the International Earth Rotation
   Service (IERS)."

(Admittedly the latin original is much more elegant ...).

During the ceremony the Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Prof.
Adrian Pfiffner, briefly reviewed Martine Feissel's "Curriculum
Vitae".

He reminded the audience that Martine Feissel was deeply involved in
the attempts in the 1970s and 1980s to exploit new and exciting
observation techniques like VLBI and SLR through international
collaboration in geodynamics and astronomy. This active and apparent
engagement was one important reason why the responsibility to build up
and run the Central Bureau of the IERS was in 1987 given to the
Observatoire de Paris and that Martine Feissel became its first
Director. She held this position till the end of the year 1997 when she
decided to step back and leave this position to another colleague.

The dean pointed out that through her scientific work and in particular
through her activities as Director of the IERS Central Bureau, she
contributed in a significant way to realize the vision of our
generation of scientists in fundamental astronomy and geodynamics,
viewing the celestial and terrestrial reference systems/frames and the
transformation between them as one "intimately connected complex in
Earth Sciences".

He furthermore mentioned that, according to his understanding, the IERS
was not really responsible for Earth Rotation but only for monitoring
this phenomenon. He found it moreover remarkable that Martine Feissel
used her power to add eight (leap-)seconds to our individual lifetimes
(we hope that the faculty of theology will accept this view of facts).

Prof. Adrian Pfiffner found it appropriate to conclude with Dr. h.c.
Martine Feissel's life motto, which she owes to Charles Baudelaire:

"Je laisse derriere moi, pour ma part sans regret, un monde ou l'action
 n'est pas la soeur du reve."
(for those among us even forgetting the French we learned in School,
this means: "I leave behind me, without regret, a world in which action
is not the sister of the dream").

The weekend of December 3-5 in Bern was filled with many activities
centered around the new Dr.h.c. We cannot comment all of them in this
short report but we would like to note that Prof. Christian Reigber,
Chairman of the IERS Directing Board, came to Bern to review the
achievement of the IERS in the past decade and to develop his visions
concerning the future of the IERS in a special Colloquium of the
Physics and Astronomy Institutes of the University of Bern organized in
honor of Martine Feissel. The presentation was complemented by
Martine's personal perspective of her interdisciplinary field of
science and her consistent views on international collaboration in our
exciting field of science.

We would like to conclude by congratulating Dr.h.c. Martine for her
achievements in her scientific career and by expressing the hope that
she will continue devoting her energy to the improvement of the
international collaboration in our field of science.

On behalf of the Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern

                                                     Gerhard Beutler

[Mailed From: [email-masked] (GERHARD BEUTLER)]