At the festive presentation of the certificate of appointment in the Club Room of the Institute for Advanced Study, the two deans Prof. Dr. Tom Nilges (CH) and Prof. Dr. Ingrid Kögel-Knabner (SoLS) spoke and introduced the Faculty/School (the the Faculty of Chemistry will be part of the School of Natural Sciences in mid-2022
In his laudation, TUM President Prof. Dr. Thomas F. Hofmann recognized Prof. Andersson as an outstanding biochemist who shaped European science policy for many years as Chairman of the Board of the European Science Foundation. For the past decade, he has led Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore as its president.
His research addresses how plants convert light into captured carbon and made several important discoveries in this area of research. He localized the two photosynthetic systems in different membrane domains and characterized the core components of redox reactions in photosystems and their regulatory proteins.
President Hoffmann acknowledged Anderssson's "pioneering work in discovering the cellular mechanisms underlying the repair of stress-induced photosystem damage," and also emphasized that Anderssson had promoted science and technology transfer by supporting biotech spin-off companies and serving as a consultant to biotech and pharmaceutical companies. "He raised awareness of entrepreneurship among young scientists by offering programs in management, intellectual property rights, and business plan development. In summary, Bertil Andersson has shaped science on a global level, as a scientist, as a manager and as an entrepreneur," Hoffmann said.
In his entertaining lecture entitled "From Cold Sweden to Tropical Singapore - From Doing to Building Science", Prof. Dr. Bertil Andersson first spoke about his time as a researcher in plant biochemistry in Umea, Lund, and as a professor in Stockholm. After that, he covered his first presidency at the University of Linköping, his involvement with the European Research Foundation, and the successful reorganization of NTU Singapore as rector and later president. The cooperation between TUM and NTU in the Create program was also praised as a good example of global cooperation.
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Bertil Andersson was born in Sweden in 1948. He studied biochemistry at Umea University and graduated with a PhD from Lund University in 1978. After his habilitation in 1982, he was professor of biochemistry and dean at Stockholm University, and in 1999 he took over the rector and leadership function at Linköping University. Five years later, he preferred to shape European science as chairman of the board instead of leading Stockholm University. From 2007, he served Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, first as provost and then as president until 2017.
Bertil Andersson has received numerous awards and honors. He holds honorary doctorates from several universities and is a member of learned societies such as Academia Europae, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and the Australian Academy of Sciences. Last but not least, Dr. Andersson has long been associated with the Nobel Foundation. For many years he was a member and chairman of the Committee on Chemistry as well as a member of the Nobel Board of Trustees.
On the honorary title of TUM Distinguished Affiliated Professor:
Since 2007, Technische Universität München has awarded the honorary title "TUM Distinguished Affiliated Professor" to internationally outstanding scientists and scholars who have developed a field of science in a leading way and who have collaborated with their TUM peers over the long term. The honorary title is awarded by the President on the basis of a resolution of the Extended University Presidium and the Senate. The "TUM Distinguished Affiliated Professors" are members of the professorial body of the faculty that submitted their nomination. Joint appointments in several faculties are possible. Other honorary professors at TUM.
Editing:
Susanne Neumann
TUM School of Life Sciences
Press and Public Relations