Buenos Aires, April 26, 2002

Dear Academy Members:

In compliance with the provisions of Article 27 of the Academy Statute, it is my duty to submit for your consideration the Annual Report, Balance Sheet, Expenditures and Resources Account, Inventory and Accounts Submission for the Financial Year ended December 31, 2001. This is the fourth term in office of the Governing Board, elected on April 24, 1998, which I preside due to the demise of the President of this Academy, Regular Member Dr. Eduardo G. Gros, on June 12, 2001.

During 2001, we also regretted the demise of Honorary Member Dr. Luis A. Santaló (Buenos Aires, Argentina), on November 22.

In the course of the year, Dr. José R. Galvele, Dr. Jorge V. Crisci and Dr. Pedro N. Stipanicic were elected Regular Members; Dr. James W. Cronin (Chicago, Illinois, United States) Honorary Member; Prof. Patrick J. Dowling (Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom), Dr. Alberto Sirlin (New York, United States), Dr. Edmundo Rofman (Paris, France) and Dr. Roberto J.J. Williams (Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina) Corresponding Members.

From April to December, a total of nine ordinary sessions were convened. An extraordinary session was held in March, as well as public sessions to incorporate Dr. Edmundo A. Rúveda (Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina) and Dr. Achim Müller (Bielefeld, Germany) as Corresponding Members, and Dr. Virpi S. Niemela, Dr. José R. Galvele and Dr. Jorge V. Crisci as Regular Members. Mention should also be made of the awarding of a gold medal to member Hilario Fernández Long -accepted on his behalf by Regular Member Horacio C. Reggini- in celebration of his silver jubilee as Regular Member; member Juan H. Hunziker has also completed 25 years as Regular Member, and will be awarded the corresponding medal during 2002. It is also fitting to highlight the meeting carried out to award certificates to the beneficiaries of the "In Libris Carpe Rosam" scholarships, elected during 2001: Jonathan A. Barmak and Matías L. del Hoyo ("Marcelo G. Barroso Mastronardi" scholarship in Mathematics), and Juan I. Fuxman Bass and Maximina H. Yun ("Paulo D. Barroso Mastronardi" scholarship in Biological Sciences). On the other hand, this Academy participated as organizer of the symposium "Biotechnology: Element of Competitiveness for the Agro-Industrial Sector" which, carried out on September 19 at the Grains Market, was coordinated by Regular Member Eduardo Charreau, and sponsored by the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food (SAGPyA) and the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA). This meeting gathered important panelists and close to 150 participants.

On November 16, at the headquarters of the National Academy of Medicine, the "National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences" and "Ernesto E. Galloni" awards ceremony was held. As regards the latter award, I wish to emphasize that it was instituted by Mrs. Nélida Pedretti de Galloni (widow of a former Academy president) and her children, by donating US$ 10,000 aimed to reward young researchers -up to 35 years of age- in the areas proposed in rotation by the three Academy Sections, with an annual amount of US$ 1,000. The reward corresponding to 2001 was granted in Physical Chemistry of Surfaces to Dr. Antonio J. Ramirez Pastor and Dr. Félix D. Nieto Quintas. As for the "National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences" awards, they were granted to the following specialists in the stated areas: Dr. Hugo A.A. Aimar ("Antonio Monteiro" award in Mathematics), Dr. Eduardo V. Alonso ("Enrique Gaviola" award in Experimental Physics), Dr. Marta G. Rovira ("Carlos Jaschek" award in Astronomy), Dr. Noemí E. Walsöe de Reca ("Simón Delpech" award in Materials Engineering), Eng. Carlos F. Christiansen ("José María Catalfo" award in Automation and Control Engineering), Dr. María Cristina Añón ("Pedro Cattaneo" award in Food Chemistry), Dr. Angélica M. Arambarri ("Luis Federico Leloir" award in Mycology), and Dr. Jorge O. Rabassa ("Arturo Amos" award in Quaternary Geology).

With reference to institutional relationships, congresses, seminars, meetings and national and international symposia were held under the auspices of the Academy, and Academy Members and other Argentine scientists and technologists were proposed as candidates for diverse prizes. Meetings were also held with the presidents of National Academies. In the September 26 meeting, it was decided that steps be taken to avoid new cuts in the 2002 budget. These steps will be carried out by a commission of representatives from five Academies.

Within the joint program between our Academy and the "Dr. Gerardo H. Pagés" Institute of Research in Humanities of the National High School of Buenos Aires, Regular Members Rodolfo Brenner and Mario Mariscotti each offered conferences on lipids and nuclear physics, respectively. Meanwhile, Regular Members Pedro Aymonino, Huner Fanchiotti, Raúl Lopardo and Mario Mariscotti were nominated as representatives before the IAC (InterAcademy Council) of the IAP (InterAcademy Panel on International Issues) -to which the Academy belongs- that will conduct the study "Promoting Worldwide Science and Technology Capacities for the 21st Century".

Also regarding institutional relationships, the Academy lent its auditorium for the following meetings: International Statistics Symposium "Contemporary Data Analysis: Theory and Practice" (March 5-9), coordinated by Regular Member Víctor Yohai; "Scientific Workshop on Microbial Diversity, Biocomplexity" (April 19-20), coordinated by Regular Member Eduardo Charreau; "Homage to Dr. Luis A. Santaló" (October 18), organized by the Argentine Society of Mathematical Education; and "Fourth International Workshop on Neurogenesis" (October 22-25), coordinated by Dr. Néstor G. Carri.

On the other hand, the Academy continued its fellowship programs. Regarding the "National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences" fellowships for doctoral theses, each consisting of $ 700 monthly, beneficiaries Carolina Torres ("Lorenzo R. Parodi" fellowship in Botany), María Leticia Rubio Puzzo ("Juan José Giambiagi" fellowship in Physics) and Fernando Varela López ("Enrique Butty" fellowship in Engineering) began their second consecutive year of work on March 1, and six months later presented their respective initial reports of the year, which were duly approved. In the case of Varela López, he will shortly be presenting his doctoral thesis at the University of Buenos Aires and at the University of Paris XI (France).

With reference to the "In Libris Carpe Rosam" scholarship, beneficiaries Fernando López García ("Marcelo G. Barroso Mastronardi" scholarship in Mathematics) and Matías Blaustein ("Paulo D. Barroso Mastronardi" scholarship in Biological Sciences) submitted their second reports for the year 2000 accompanied by a brief essay -as required by Art. 5 of the regulations- and with the appraisal of their supervisors, Regular Members Angel Larotonda and Jorge Wright, respectively; while both scholarships were approved, Blaustein´s was renewed and Lopez García´s ended on February 28, after his 22nd birthday.

Let us recall that these scholarships for students of the University of Buenos Aires -under 22 years of age at the time of starting- in the aforementioned areas were established when two support funds were donated by Eng. Inés A. Mastronardi, whose yield is used to finance them, each consisting of $ 600 monthly. On March 1, the following students -who were selected from the competition summoned the previous year- commenced their scholarship: Lucía Babino and Agustín Alvarez (Mathematics), and Marcelo Martí (Biological Sciences). Six months after starting the scholarships, they and Blaustein presented their first reports of the year, together with the appraisal of each of their supervisors (Regular Member Víctor Yohai for the scholarship in Mathematics, and Regular Member Jorge Wright for Biological Sciences), which were approved.

Considering that the four students' scholarships will finish on February 28, 2002 when they turn 22 years of age, a competition was summoned to fill those vacancies. The winners for the two scholarships in Mathematics -for which there were seven candidates- were Jonathan A. Barmak and Matías L. del Hoyo, while for the new scholarship in Biological Sciences -for which there were twelve candidates- the beneficiaries were Juan I. Fuxman Bass and Maximina H. Yun. At a ceremony held on December 14, the four beneficiaries, who will begin their scholarship on March 1, 2002, supervised by Regular Members Angel Larotonda (Mathematics) and Jorge V. Crisci (Biological Sciences), received their corresponding certificates from Eng. Mastronardi.

As regards the Book Fair, organized yearly by "El Libro" Foundation, the Academy was not able to participate in its 27th edition (April 16-May 7) due to budgetary reasons, a fact that is particularly regretted, considering that the Academy has participated in this event for the past fifteen years.

As far as publications are concerned, in 2001 volume 52 of "Anales" ("Annals") and the bulletin "Noticias" ("News") N° 12 were published. In addition, the presentation of the Academy Report, under the title "Annual Report 2000", was translated into English and sent to Honorary and Corresponding Members abroad whose mother tongue is not Spanish. The internal communication "Información para los Señores Académicos" ("Information for Academy Members") was likewise published.

Regarding the new Statute of the Academy, this document was approved by the General Inspection of Justice, by Resolution N° 000631, dated July 16, 2001.

As for the Darwinion Botanical Institute (Instituto de Botánica Darwinion - IBODA), under the proficient guidance of Dr. Fernando O. Zuloaga, it continued carrying out excellent research and diffusion.

By means of this presentation, I offer my warmest congratulations to the Academy Members who received awards and distinctions throughout 2001.

In this brief yearly synopsis, I also take pleasure in expressing my personal gratitude to the Academy Members who shared the Governing Board and whose contributions of ideas, collaboration and attendance were given with the widest scope and drive; likewise, to the presidents of Sections, Commissions, Special Commissions and to our colleagues as a whole.

The Academy staff fulfilled their duties with skill and reliability. Dr. Juan Carlos Vallés, Mr. Mariano G. Fernández Alt, Mrs. Diana L. Pallini, Ms. Patricia N. López, Ms. Beatriz L. Manso and Mr. Ramón Berón granted zeal and willingness for the best achievement of their assigned tasks, as well as for their valuable initiatives for an improved operation of our institution. I hereby congratulate them and acknowledge their unfailing support.

Eng. Arturo J. Bignoli
Vice President acting as President