Disconcerted but happy is how Dr. Alejandro Maass, associated researcher at CMM, felt after reading the letter that told him he will receive the Insignia of Knight of the Order of Merit from the Republic of France. ”Really, for a few second I thought it was not true,” he says.
I felt the value that is given by France to all we have done to strengthen scientific training of Chilean and Lationamerican students. This has been done for more than two decades by CMM and DIM’s colleages in collaboration with our French partners. ”I am very pleased for that,” the Doctor remarks.
Alejandro Maass is Engineer in Mathematics at the Universidad de Chile and Ph.D. in mathematics at the University d’Aix-Marseille II, France. He is president of Consejo Superior de Ciencias FONDECYT and director of the Committee ECOS-CONICYT, the oldest bilateral cooperation program between Chile France. Today, he works as faculty at the Department of Mathematical Engineering at the University and he is associate researcher at the Center for Mathematical Modeling.
Moreover, he has been the responsible for several projects with importance to the mining industry, including a Fondef on systems biology and its application to bioleaching bacterial and the creation of the Bioinformatics and Mathematics of the Genome Lab (LBMG), which it has specialized in the generation, analysis and modeling of large volumes of genomic information.
In a ceremony to be held late December or early January the French Ambassador, Madame Elisabeth Beton Delègue, will present Dr. Maass with the medal of Knight of the National Order of Merit in recognition of his ongoing scientific collaboration with the French nation, which has been shown through the organization of two schools CIMPA and co-supervising thesis from Chilean and French students among other activities.
| The French ”L’Ordre National du Mérite” rewards distinguished military or civilian service to the country. It was established by General Charles de Gaulle in 1963, replacing former ministerial orders and Colonial created by Napoleon Bonaparte. The categories are: Knight, Officer and Commander. The National Order of Merit and the National Order of the Legion of Honor are the two major awards given by the French government. |
