SVU Member is New President of the Czech Academy

The Czech Academy of Sciences has a new president. After Professor Helena Illnerova's four-year term expired, Professor Vaclav Paces, the former Director of the Institute of Molecular Genetics, was elected to lead the country??s top research institution for the next four years. Dr. Paces who is a SVU member, was last year elected SVU Fellow, the highest scientific recognition the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences can offer.

In my congratulatory letter to him, I expressed our joy about his election which is a great honor and recognition of his accomplishments, with the hope for close cooperation between our organizations which were started under the Presidency of Professor Otto Wichterle and continued by Professor Rudolf Zahradnik.

Following his election, Dr. Paces made it clear that he was a firm believer in basic research and that the mission of the Academy is to support it. He also stated that English, which he considers the language of science, should be spoken more widely in the Czech Academy??s research institutes. He would like to attract more foreigners so that their laboratories and institutes would be more international. On the other hand, he is a bit apprehensive about the brain drain, fearing that a number of promising young Czech scientists studying abroad may not return to the Czech Republic because of the low salaries being paid there.

Dr. Paces was born on 2 February 1941 , his father being one of the founders of Czech urology and his brother is a noted geochemist and hydrogeologist. After receiving his RNDr. from Charles University in 1965, three years later he was awarded Sc. degree from the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and in 1987 his DrSc. degree. Since 1977 he has been associated with the Institute of Molecular Genetics, attaining the rank of the Head of the laboratory in 1986 and the Directorship of the Institute in 1999. In 1992 he became docent and in 1995 he was named full Professor.

In his scientific career he has specialized in genetics and in the midst of eighties his team was one of the first to decode DNA of bacterial viruses. He also carried out research abroad, including his stay at Yale University, University of Chicago, Seville, Bristol and Japan. His publication record exceeds 100 original papers, in addition to being a co-author, editor and translator of several books. His accomplishments have been recognized by a number of prizes and by being elected a member to the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.

I wish our esteemed colleague and my good friend Vaclav Paces all the best in his new endeavor.

Mila Rechcigl, SVU President

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