Legion of Honour awarded to Australian science leader

Professor Kurt Lambeck will today be awarded the Legion of Honour - the highest decoration in France - in recognition of his contribution to the field of science and his strong ties to the country.

His Excellency the Ambassador of France, Stéphane Romatet, will confer the Award of Chevalier dans l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur tonight at the Australian Academy of Science’s Shine Dome in Canberra.

“I am delighted to accept this award and I am humbled to join a very impressive group of Australians who have been awarded the Legion of Honour,” Professor Lambeck said.

A past President of the Australian Academy of Science, Professor Lambeck first visited France in the 1970s to help set up the French (CNES) program in space geodesy - particularly in the area of geophysics. He spent nearly eight years working in France, with the latter years at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP).

After returning to Australia, Professor Lambeck joined the Australian National University but he continued to work closely with researchers from CNES and IPGP and was a frequent visitor to France. He was Foreign Secretary (1994-2004) and later President (2006-2010) of the Australian Academy of Science.

In late 2012, Professor Lambeck was awarded the 750,000 Swiss Franc (~$800,000) Balzan Prize for Solid Earth Sciences for “exceptional contribution to the understanding of the relationship between post-glacial rebound and sea change levels”.

Academy President Professor Suzanne Cory offered the academy’s warmest congratulations to Professor Lambeck.

“Kurt has been a strong and tireless advocate for international collaboration in science and has done much to advance knowledge in both Australia and France,” Professor Cory said.

“This honour is very well deserved.”