The passing away of Prof. Stephen Jay Gould, member of the BA Board of Trustees

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Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director General of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, has expressed his great sadness for the passing away of Professor Stephen Jay Gould, member of the Board of Trustees of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

Professor Stephen Jay Gould was one of the most well known writers in science in the world and a leading figure in paleontology and evolutionary theory. He was born in New York City, and received his BSc from Antioch College in 1963 and later his PhD in paleontology from Columbia University in 1967. Dr. Gould was Professor of Paleontology and Zoology at Harvard, and Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology in the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. He has been a Vincent Astor Visiting Research Professor of Biology at New York University since 1996 until he died. Dr. Gould received numerous rewards, including the prestigious MacArthur Foundation prize fellowship in 1981, served as President of the American Society of Naturalists, the Paleontological Society and the Society for the Study of Evolution.

He was one of the few practicing scientists who have a continuing string of best-sellers on science for the general public while remaining actively engaged with the most serious aspects of the advancement of science. He was the President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) from 1999-2000.

Dr. Gould highly supported the notion of the revival of the Library of Alexandria and was an early member of the founding Board Of Trustees. He was one of the most famous personalities in the field of science and a distinguished figure of the international scientific community.

Dr. Gould""s passing away leaves a great void in the international scientific community. He will also be widely mourned by all who had the occasion to know this gentle humanist and appreciate the depth of his commitment to the universal values of ecumenism, dialogue and understanding.

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina extends its deepest sympathies to his family, as it has lost one of its members of the Board Of Trustees who was one of the true enthusiasts for the revival of the Library of Alexandria and its development and enhancement to be one of the greatest libraries of the world.


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