Source: Jim Williams
This past Saturday (April 25), ESD Terrestrial Ecosystem Science and Atmospheric Systems Research Head Margaret Torn was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Zurich. She was honored at the "Dies Academicus", the annual founder's day ceremony attended by about 750 people from the University of Zurich and ETH, which included a choral concert and a performance by the university symphony orchestra interspersed with awards to faculty and students.
The inscription on the diploma read as follows: "The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the University of Zurich hereby awards an Honorary Doctorate to Prof. Dr. Margaret S. Torn, in recognition of her fundamental contributions to deeper understanding of biogeochemical processes in the soil-plant-atmosphere system and their implications for climate, and through this work making important contributions to scientifically-grounded solutions to the problem of sustainable development of natural resources."
Other recipients of honorary doctorates were interesting and diverse, including a husband-wife team of Biblical scholars from Yale; a physician from Uganda who has been working in AIDS research and treatment for many years; a veterinarian and a foundation head who have been working to save the Mongolian wild horse (Przewalski's horse) from extinction; and a Japanese particle physicist who made a fundamental discovery at the Large Hadron Collider.
A few photos from the trip, during which the university put Torn and her husband Jim Williams up in splendid accommodations, are here »
Congratulations, Margaret!