Dr. Ho-Kwang Mao, an alumnus of the Physics Department of NTU and also an academician of Academia Sinica, was recently elected to Royal Society of London as a Foreign Member in recognition of his eminence in scientific discoveries and attainments. Dr. Mao received American Geophysical Union's Inge Lehmann Medal in 2007. Within a six month span, he wins yet another high academic honor, and deserves to be congratulated!!

For the past thirty years Dr. Mao is a pathfinder in international high pressure physics and its related technologies. The Royal Society of London is formally known as the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge. Founded in 1660, its goal was to promote the development of the knowledge of natural science. As one of the world's most prestigious scientific societies, the Royal Society of London has been in existence for 348 years, its uninterrupted long history and unrivalled scientific contributions top the world.

The operation of the Royal Society of London is fully funded by the British Government, but its decision-making is completely independent. In the year 2008, the Society elected 8 foreign members, who were all held in high esteem for their academic achievements. In addition to being a Foreign Member of the Royal Society, Dr. Mao is also a fellow of the American Academy of Science, an academician of Academia Sinica, a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a fellow of American Geophysical Union, and a fellow of the American Physical Society, among others.

For his contributions to mineral physics, Dr. Mao received the Balzan Prize from the Balzan Foundation in 2005. In the same year, he received the Gregori Aminoff Prize for crystallography from the Royal Swedish Academy of Science and the Boebling Medal from the Mineralogical Society of America. In 2007, he won the Inge Lehmann Medal from the American Geophysical Union.

Reference Websites:

1. The Royal Society http://royalsociety.org/
2. http://news.epochtimes.com/b5/8/5/23/n2127818.htm