Buenos Aires, April 25, 2003

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, and Inventory for the Financial Year ended December 31, 2002. This is the first term in office of the Governing Board, which I have the honor to preside.

During 2002 we regretted the demise of Honorary Members Dr. César Milstein (Cambridge, United Kingdom, March 24) and Dr. Laurent Schwartz (Paris, France, July 4), Regular Member Eng. Hilario Fernández Long (Necochea, Buenos Aires, Argentina, December 23), Corresponding Members Dr. Manuel Lora-Tamayo (Madrid, Spain, August 22) and Dr. Víctor Angelescu (Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina, June 12).

In the course of the year, Dr. Juan H. Hunziker (Olivos, Buenos Aires, Argentina) and Dr. Rosendo Pascual (La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina) were elected Emeritus Members; Dr. Hunziker being the first member in this new category. Dr. Daniel R. Bes (La Lucila, Buenos Aires, Argentina) was elected Honorary Member, and Dr. Francisco de la Cruz (San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina) Corresponding Member.

From April to December, a total of nine ordinary sessions were convened. Three extraordinary sessions were held, as well as public sessions to incorporate Dr. Pedro N. Stipanicic (Buenos Aires, Argentina) as Regular Member, and Dr. Edmundo Rofman (Paris, France) and Prof. Patrick J. Dowling (Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom) as Corresponding Members. Two ceremonies were also organized: one as a tribute to Dr. Luis A. Santaló, a former Regular Member, President and Honorary Member of this Academy, and another one in honor of Regular Members Dr. Venancio Deulofeu and Eng. José S. Gandolfo to mark the centennial of their births. Mention should also be made of the awarding of gold medals to both Dr. Juan H. Hunziker and Dr. Daniel R. Bes, in celebration of their silver jubilee as Regular Members in 2001 and 2002, respectively.

Awards

On November 22, the National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences and Ernesto E. Galloni awards ceremony was held at the National Academy of Medicine. As regards the latter award, I wish to point out that it was instituted by Eng. Ernesto E. Galloni's wife, Mrs. Nélida Pedretti, who died in 1999, and her children. They donated 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$ 600.
The 2002 award was granted to Dr. Hernán De Battista in Electronic Engineering. As for the National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences awards, they were granted to the following specialists in the stated areas: Dr. Ricardo G. Durán (Luis A. Santaló award in Mathematics), Dr. Manfred H.F.P. Ahlers (Ricardo Gans award in Theoretical Physics), Eng. Pedro E. Zadunaisky (Reynaldo P. Cesco award in Astronomy), Dr. Luis A. Godoy (Arturo M. Guzmán award in Structural Engineering), Eng. Jorge J. Galarraga (Pascual Palazzo award in Transport Engineering), Dr. Alicia M. Seldes (Eduardo G. Gros award in Organic Chemistry of Natural Products), Dr. Zulma N. Brandoni de Gasparini (Florentino Ameghino award in Paleontology), and Dr. Amalia M. Miquelarena (Eduardo L. Holmberg award in Ichthyology).

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 and judges for various prizes. On December 4, a meeting was held with the presidents of National Academies, which was also attended by the Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Dr. Graciela Giannettasio. The topic of the budget for National Academies was discussed on this occasion and the Minister informed that, on top of the annual allocation, special grants would be awarded to specific projects. In response to this invitation, the Interacademy Project for the Improvement and Integration of Science and Technology Learning will be submitted at the beginning of next year, together with the budget drawn up by our Academy, the National Academy of Science (in Córdoba), the Buenos Aires National Academy of Science and the National Academies of Education and Engineering. An Interacademy Board and an Executive Committee made up of delegates of the above Academies have been set up for this interacademy project, which is at an advanced stage.
In our case, our delegates are Regular Members Alejandro Arvia (regular delegate) and Norberto Fava (substitute delegate).

This interacademy project is coordinated by the Ad-Hoc Committee for Special Academy Activities, which was set up at the beginning of the year and has developed a program based on three specific objectives: To strengthen the bonds between the society and the Academy; To increase the Academy presence in the scientific community; and Our Academy and Government Agencies.

The Academy has accepted the invitation to collaborate, together with other world national academies of science, in the MEA (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment) project and has appointed Dr. Osvaldo Sala (Chair of Ecology, Faculty of Agronomy, University of Buenos Aires) as its delegate. Within the framework of this international project, the videoconference Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Participation in a Global Scientific Process was held in Buenos Aires, under the auspices of this Academy, and included the participation of scientific panels in Johannesburg and Washington, with simultaneous broadcasting to Brazil, Peru and Bolivia.

The Declaration of National Academies about the Cooperation Agreement between Argentina and Australia on the Pacific Uses of Nuclear Energy was issued in August. This declaration was made by our Academy together with the National Academy of Science (in Córdoba), the Buenos Aires National Academy of Science, the Córdoba National Academy of Law and Social Sciences, and the National Academies of Education, Engineering and Medicine. Some time later, on November 29, the newspaper La Nación published a summary of this declaration in its section letters from readers.

Regular Members Pedro Aymonino, Huner Fanchiotti, Raúl Lopardo and Mario Mariscotti submitted a report on the study Promoting Worldwide Science and Technology Capacities for the 21st Century, from IAP (InterAcademy Panel), to which this Academy belongs.

I wish to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Angela Danil de Namor, Corresponding Member in Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom, who, on behalf of the University of Surrey, donated US$ 2,000 from the credit balance remaining after the organization of the International Conference on Supramolecular Chemistry (Buenos Aires, August 25-29), at a ceremony held in our headquarters.

The Academy was represented in different ceremonies by the Academy Members Jorge Crisci (workshop of the InterAcademy Panel), Pedro Aymonino (meetings of the Third World Academy of Sciences, Third World Network of Scientific Organizations, InterAcademy Panel, G-77, and Global Supramolecular Chemistry Network), Alejandro Arvia (videoconference of the project Millennium Ecosystem Assessment) and Edmundo Rofman (ceremony in honor of Prof. Jacques-Louis Lions, organized by l'Académie des Sciences, Paris, France). To them all, my deepest appreciation.

Fellowships and Scholarships

This Academy continued its fellowship programs. Regarding the National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences fellowships for doctoral theses, each consisting of $ 700 monthly, on March 1 beneficiaries Carolina Torres (Lorenzo R. Parodi fellowship in Botany) and María Leticia Rubio Puzzo (Juan José Giambiagi fellowship in Physics) began their third consecutive year of work. Fernando Varela López ended his fellowship (Enrique Butty fellowship in Engineering) as the University of Buenos Aires and the University of Paris XI (France) passed his doctoral thesis Hydrodynamic Instabilities in Coverage Processes, awarding him the degree of Doctor of Engineering.

The In Libris Carpe Rosam scholarships are intended for students of the University of Buenos Aires -under 22 years of age at the time of starting- in the areas of Mathematics (Marcelo G. Barroso Mastronardi scholarship) and Biological Sciences (Paulo D. Barroso Mastronardi scholarship) and were established when two support funds were donated -one in 1999 and the other in 2000- by Eng. Inés A. Mastronardi. The yield from these funds is used to finance these scholarships, each consisting of $ 600 monthly. It should be noted that in January 2002, the State discontinued the payment of interests on the bonds that support these scholarships. Since then and up to June 2002, the scholarships were paid with the money remaining from previous collections of interests. I wish to point out that Eng. Mastronardi has showed great determination to maintain the scholarships -not only has she financed them since July 2002 (for which she will be reimbursed) but she has also participated in the analysis and discussions to reach an agreement-. This subject has been finally settled, which has allowed meeting the commitments undertaken with the four existing scholarship holders and establishing at least one scholarship per year.

For these scholarships, the second reports for the year 2001, submitted by Agustín Alvarez and Lucía Babino (Mathematics), and Marcelo Martí and Matías Blaustein (Biological Sciences), were approved in 2002. Such reports were accompanied by a brief essay -as requested by Article 5 of the Statute- and the favorable opinion of their supervisors, Regular Members Víctor Yohai and Jorge Wright, respectively. Their scholarships ended on February 28, 2002, when they turned 22 years of age, and the excellence in their studies was emphasized. On March 1, the four beneficiaries selected the previous year started their scholarships: Matías del Hoyo and Jonathan Barmak (Mathematics), and Juan Fuxman Bass and Maximina Yun (Biological Sciences). They submitted their first report, together with the positive appraisal of their supervisors, Regular Members Angel Larotonda and Jorge Crisci, respectively. Such reports were approved and the students' outstanding performance was praised.

Publications

In 2002 volume 53 of Anales (Annals) and the bulletin Noticias (News) Nº 13 (January-June 2002) were published.

The Darwinion Botanical Institute

The Darwinion Botanical Institute (Instituto de Botánica Darwinion - IBODA), under the proficient guidance of Dr. Fernando O. Zuloaga, continued carrying out excellent research and diffusion. It is worth noting that our Academy, in response to the request made by Dr. Zuloaga, authorized the extension of the IBODA building by about 140 square meters. It was funded by the Missouri Botanical Garden (St. Louis, Missouri, United States), headed by our Corresponding Member Dr. Peter Raven, who I warmly thank. I also want to mention that our plenary session on November 29 was held at the IBODA headquarters, which was a pleasant experience.

Our headquarters

By decree No. 1495 dated August 16, 2002, published in the Official Gazette on August 20, the building that houses our headquarters, House of the National Academies, together with other neighbor buildings, was declared National Historical Monument.

Acknowledgements

By means of this presentation, I offer my warmest congratulations to the Academy Members who received awards, distinctions and tributes throughout 2002.

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, I convey my deepest gratitude to the presidents of Sections, Commissions, Special Commissions and to our colleagues as a whole.

The Academy staff is coordinated with enthusiasm, skill and reliability by Mariano Fernández Alt, who has always made useful and timely suggestions to this presidency.

He has relied on the efficient collaboration of Mrs. Diana Pallini, Ms. Patricia López, Ms. Beatriz Manso and the support of Mr. Ramón Berón and Mr. Adrián Ramos, who have granted zeal and willingness for the best achievement of their assigned tasks. I hereby congratulate them and acknowledge their unfailing support. In September Dr. Juan Carlos Vallés was removed from this Academy.

Eng. Arturo J. Bignoli
President