Eigil Friis-Christensen †
Eigil Friis-Christensen passed away on 21st September 2018 after severe
illness.
Eigil had tremendous impact as a scientific leader, working tirelessly
throughout his career to promote interdisciplinary approaches and
international collaboration. His scientific achievements include
ground-breaking studies of the interaction between Earth’s magnetic
field and the solar wind, in particular using data from the Greenland
magnetometer chain that he initiated and installed in the 1970s; the
Oersted and Swarm satellite missions to explore Earth’s magnetic field,
and investigations of the connection between global temperature and the
length of the solar cycle.
He was highly regarded and recognized internationally for his many
achievements. To list just a few: In 1997 he initiated the "Decade of
Geopotential Field Research" within the IUGG, between 2007 and 2011 he
served as president of IAGA, in 2009 he was awarded EGU’s Petrus
Peregrinus Medal for "his fundamental contributions to our knowledge of
the Earth’s magnetic field from space and his innovative leadership in
geomagnetism" and also was elected a fellow of the AGU for "his
pathbreaking cross-disciplinary scientific research and multi-national
leadership in initiating new space-based research missions".
Eigil's quiet and kind personality, combined with his dedication to
science and his ability to inspire his younger colleagues and promote
their individual careers, will be remembered by all who had the
privilege to work with him.
We have lost an outstanding scientist and a remarkable person.
-
Nils Olsen and Chris Finlay
DTU Space - Technical University of Denmark