International Eurasian Academy of Sciences, IEAS

Academician

George Djolov†

Profile:

Elected an Academician of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences (IEAS) on 25 April 2015, the late Professor George Djolov (1938–2018) was a distinguished Bulgarian-born South African atmospheric and environmental physicist whose career bridged Eastern European science and the development of environmental research in Africa. Born in Bulgaria, he earned two doctoral degrees, in Physics and Mathematics from a Canadian institution and in Mechanical Engineering from Russia, before establishing a distinguished academic career in the Balkans. Prior to 1990, he served as Professor of Physics at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, where he founded and directed the Institute of Ecology, the country’s first dedicated environmental research institute. He also served as Senior Advisor on Environmental Problems to the Bulgarian State President’s Office and, from 1990 to 1995, as President of the World Committee on Engineering and Environment of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), while maintaining close engagement with the Energy and Climate Task Force of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA).

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Following the political transitions of the early 1990s, Professor Djolov began a second phase of his career in Southern Africa. After coordinating the Bachelor of Technology Programme in Applied Physics at the University of Zimbabwe, he was appointed Professor and Chair of Physics at the University of Venda in 1996 and subsequently served as Dean of its School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. In 2003, he became Professor and Director of the Faculty of Physical and Mineral Sciences at the University of the North, now the University of Limpopo, followed by service as Chief Executive Officer of the National Community Water and Sanitation Training Institute in Polokwane from 2004 to 2006. From 2007, as Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria, he directed the Laboratory for Atmospheric Studies and continued his research until his death. Across his African career, he secured more than 20 million rand in research funding, authored five books and over 100 journal articles, and supervised postgraduate researchers across the continent. His 25-year service on the Editorial Board of Boundary-Layer Meteorology and subsequent role with Urban Climate reflected his international standing in planetary boundary-layer science. His work on boundary-layer theory, observation and numerical modelling, air-pollution dynamics, and climate change made lasting contributions to atmospheric and environmental science in both Europe and Africa.