Vening Meinesz Medal 2006

The Swiss scientist Gerhard Beutler has won the prestigious EGU Vening Meinesz Medal in recognition of his notable contributions to the international application of the Global Positioning System in geodesy and geophysics.

The Vening Meinesz Medal has been established by the Division on Geodesy in recognition of the scientific achievements of Vening Meinesz. It will be awarded by the European Geosciences Union for distinguished research in Geodesy.

Professor Beutler is currently a professor and director of the Astronomical Institute at the University of Bern.

Resumé

Celestial mechanics is the core of Professor Gerhard Beutler’s research. With his work on orbit mechanics and on the rotational motion of deformable bodies he contributed fundamentally to celestial mechanics. He has recently published a two volume work, “Methods of celestial Mechanics” (Springer, 2005) which provides, among other things, a summary of his research. His research in celestial mechanics laid the foundation for his important contributions to the development of the scientific use of the Global Positioning System (GPS).
Gerhard Beutler combines his qualities as outstanding scholar and scientist with that of a very gifted science manager with a great vision. He served on several programme committees of ESA, the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) and national research institutes. Under his guidance the scientific mission and structure of IAG have been assessed and modernized. Gerhard Beutler is also the “motor” behind the creation of a “Global Geodetic Observing System” (GGOS), which is now the main focus of IAG.

Medal Lecture

Professor Beutler will accept his medal and give his Medal lecture during the EGU General Assembly, to be held in Vienna, Austria from 2 – 7 April 2006. The lecture ‘Satellite Geodesy viewed from the perspective of Celestial’ starts Tuesday, April 4, at 19:00 h in Lecture Room D.

More information: http://www.copernicus.org/EGU/awards/medallists/_2006/vening_meinesz.html