NHRI Honorary President ZHANG Jianyun Elected as the First GSC Fellow

On Nov. 29, 2020, the First Fellow Awarding Ceremony of the Geographical Society of China (GSC) and the Frontier Forum of Geographical Sciences were held in Beijing. The conference commended scientists who had made outstanding contributions to the field of geography and related disciplines. 22 scientists including academician XU Guanhua were elected as the “First CGS Fellows”, and 20 scientists including academician SUN Honglie the "First Honorary CGS Fellows". NHRI honorary president ZHANG Jianyun, CAE academician and foreign fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, UK, is one of the 22 scientists.

According to the Charter of the Fellows of the Geographical Society of China, GSC fellows, divided into fellows and honorary fellows, which are a lifetime honor, are the highest academic honorary title in the field of geographic science established by GSC. The first fellows and honorary fellows are mainly awarded to CAS and CAE academicians of geographical field and geographers who have made significant contributions to the development of GSC and the Chinese geographical science.

Academician ZHANG Jianyun has long been engaged in research work in hydrology, flood control and drought relief, climate change impacts, water resources and hydropower informatization, etc. He used to be chief engineer, deputy director-general and chief engineer of MWR Hydrological Bureau, president of NHRI, and director-general of MWR Dam Safety Management Center, and is currently honorary president of NHRI. He is also honorary chairman of the Chinese National Committee of the International Association for Hydrological Sciences, director-general of MWR Research Center for Climate Change, director of Yangtze Institute for Conservation and Development, and editor-in-chief of the journal Advances in Water Science.

GSC, founded in 1909, is one of the oldest academic organizations in China. Academician ZHANG’s election as the First GSC Fellow fully demonstrates that his academic achievements have been widely recognized by the Chinese geography community.