(Feb 20) - Luigi Nicolais has been appointed the new president of the CNR, the National Research Council. Nicolais has a very long academic résumé, mostly in the USA: from 1981 to 2003 at the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington and from 1986 to 2004 at the Institute of Materials Science at the University of Connecticut Storrs. His designation comes directly from the Minister of Education, Universities and Research, Francesco Profumo. First task of the new president will be to continue to reform the CNR's Regulations on the most delicate point: the number of departments in which the individual scientific institutes will be include in. According to many, only starting from the reforms it will be possible to revive the image of Italian research in the world, now restricted by the sharp cuts that have affected its international reputation. His appointment is also a winning for the region of Campania: beside Nicolais, at the board of the Bureau of the National Research Council, there will be also Francesco Ferrara, former rector of the University Parthenope, counselor of the National Research Council and vice president of the Province of Naples. (Ram)

A SPECIAL AWARD FROM SAMPE
Gino Nicolais, a native of St. Anastasia, was founder and director of the Institute for Composite and Biomedical Materials at the CNR. He obtained many national and international awards, among which the one from the Society for the Advancement of Materials and Process Engineering (SAMPE), for his service to the knowledge and the development and use of composite materials. He is Professor Emeritus of Polymer Technology and Materials Science and Technology at Federico II university in Naples. In the same university, he was Director of the Department of Materials Engineering and Production Engineering, and president of the undergraduate degree in Materials Engineering and of the Ph.D. in Biomaterials. Nicolais was a member of the Academic Senate and chairman of the Joint Science & Technology. He also runs a successful political career. He was in councilor with responsibility for Productive Activities of the region of Campania, Minister of Reform and Innovation in the Public Administration from 2006 to 2008. Currently he is elected deputy in the ranks of the Democratic Party.