Baldi Memorial Lecture
Rules | Committee | Recipients
The Baldi Memorial Lectures of the Societas Internationalis Limnologiae were established in 1952 to perpetuate the memory of Edgardo Baldi by stimulating research and inquiry within the field of theoretical limnology to which he devoted his life work. SIL honors one of its members by requesting a synthesis of a subject within theoretical limnology to be delivered as the foremost lecture at the initial General Assembly of each Congress. The selection of the lecturer is made by a committee elected by the International Committee of SIL, and consists of the President and General Secretary of SIL, and three members from different countries, one of which shall always be from Italy. The endowment of the Baldi Memorial Foundation in SIL provides a modest honorarium to the Lecturer.
Edgardo Baldi (1899 - 1951) was trained at the University of Pavia, Italy, in natural sciences and specialized in studies on the neurophysiology of insects. In collaborations with Rina Monti, Baldi became interested in freshwater biology and particularly in the biology of copepods of alpine waters. In 1937, he became director of the Institute of Comparative Anatomy and Zoology of the University of Milano. At the encouragement and support of Dr. Marco De Marchi, a biologist with interests in plankton living in Pallanza, the Istituto Italiano de Idrobiologia "Dott. Marco De Marchi" was established in 1938, and Professor Edgardo Baldi became its first director. With the exception of a hiatus of imposed military service during the war years, Baldi worked unceasingly to develop the Institute at Pallanza into one of the foremost freshwater hydrobiological laboratories of the world.
The combination of the intellectual stimulation, research, and instruction in limnology that emanated from the Institute was so pervading and influential to the discipline that Italian was erected as one of the four initial official languages within SIL. That leadership position began with Baldi and has persisted with a continuing progression of excellent scientists and contributions to the development of limnology. It is to the memory of Edgardo Baldi's contributions and leadership that this primal lecture is dedicated.
Robert G. Wetzel
University of North Carolina
References
D'Ancona, U. 1952. Edgardo Baldi. Hydrobiologia 4:294-301.
Armocida, G. 1988. L'Istituto Italiano di Idrobiologia "Dott. Marco De Marchi" Cinquanta anni de ricerche (1938 - 1988). Documenta Ist. Ital. Idrobiol. 16. 115 pp.
Rules for the Administration of the Edgardo Baldi Memorial Foundation
§ 1. The Edgardo Baldi Memorial Foundation is administered by the Baldi Memorial Committee according to the following rules adopted by the International Association of Theoretical and Applied Limnology (SIL).
§ 2. The aim of the Edgardo Baldi Memorial Foundation is to perpetuate the memory of Edgardo Baldi by stimulating research within the field of theoretical limnology to which he devoted his life work.
§ 3. With this object in view, the interest accruing from the Edgardo Baldi Memorial Foundation shall be used, in the first place, to defray the honorarium and expenses for one Baldi Memorial Lecture on subjects within the realm of theoretical limnology, to be delivered at each General Assembly (International Congress) of the International Association of Limnology.
§ 4. The selection of the Baldi Memorial Lecturer shall be decided by the Baldi Memorial Committee. The nomination should be announced, if possible, at the congress next before that at which the lecture is to be delivered.
§ 5. The Baldi Memorial Committee shall consist of five members, two of which shall be the President and General Secretary of the International Association of Limnology (who shall act respectively as Chairman and Secretary of the Committee), the three others to be elected by the International Committee. The elected members shall represent three different countries, other than those (that) represented by the Chairman and the Secretary. Italy shall always be represented on the Baldi Memorial Committee. Re-election of members is permissible.
§ 6. The Committee shall decide by vote, three members forming a quorum. If the voting is exactly even, the Chairman shall have a casting vote. Voting may be by correspondence.
§ 7. If the International Association of Limnology be dissolved, its last General Assembly shall decide the future use ofthe Edgardo Baldi Memorial Foundation.
Great Britain U. D'Ancona Finland W. E. Ricker Austria D. Jaag USA J. W. G. Lund Poland Unable to determine from records Israel H. W. Jannasch USSR G. G. Winberg Canada H. B. N. Hynes Denmark P. M. Jónasson Japan S. Horie France Gene E. Likens New Zealand David W. Schindler Germany Robert G. Wetzel Spain Arthur C. Benke Brazil H. Décamps Ireland Charles R. Goldman Australia Jack F. Talling Finland Wolfgang Junk Canada Michio Kumagai