Emilio Lora-Tamayo

Emilio Lora-Tamayo
Lora-Tamayo in 2014
President of the Spanish National Research Council
In office
21 February 2003 – 15 May 2004
Preceded byRolf Tarrach Siegel [es]
Succeeded byCarlos Martínez Alonso
In office
13 January 2012 – 17 November 2017
Preceded byRafael Rodrigo Montero [es]
Succeeded byRosa Menéndez [es]
Personal details
Born(1950-11-05)5 November 1950
Madrid, Spain
Died29 March 2024(2024-03-29) (aged 73)
Madrid, Spain
Parent

Emilio Lora-Tamayo D'Ocon (5 November 1950 – 29 March 2024) was a Spanish physicist and academic. He served as the president of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) twice, from 2003 to 2004 and from 2012 to 2017. He was a professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and served as rector for Menéndez Pelayo International University and the Universidad Camilo José Cela.

Early life and education

Emilio Lora-Tamayo was born on 5 November 1950, in Madrid.[1] He was the son of Manuel Lora-Tamayo, who served during the Francoist dictatorship as the Minister of Education from 1962 to 1968 and president of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) from 1967 to 1971.[2]

Lora-Tamayo received a degree in physical sciences in 1972 and his Diplôme d'Études Approfondies from Paul Sabatier University. He received his PhD in physical sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid in 1977.[1][3] He then conducted research at the École Supérieure de l'Aeronautique et de l'Espace and the Laboratoire de l'Informatique et de l'Electronique in France.[3]

Career

Prior to the completion of his doctorate, Lora-Tamayo worked at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), devoted in particular to microelectronics. Following the 2002 Prestige oil spill, he served as president of the Scientific Advisory Committee convened by the Spanish government.[1] He held the post of Professor of Electronics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, beginning in 1989.[3] He was vice president of Scientific and Technical Research at the CSIC between 1996 and 2003. In 2003 he was appointed president of the CSIC by the government of José María Aznar and served in that role until 2004.[4] Between 2008 and 2012 he directed the CSIC's Barcelona Microelectronics Institute of the CSIC. He was appointed president of the CSIC again by the government of Mariano Rajoy in 2012, and held the position until 2017.[5][6] He was also a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, in the United States.[3]

Statements made by Lora-Tamayo in November 2014 describing the brain drain in Spain as an "exaggerated urban legend" caused unease in the Spanish scientific community due to the declining numbers of researchers in the CSIC and emigration to institutes abroad.[7][8] Lora-Tamayo was also criticised for the abrupt dismissal of the director of the Estación Biológica de Doñana [es], Juan José Negro, ten months before the end of his mandate on 30 September 2015. Negro had been proposed by a majority of his fellow researchers. The environmental organisation WWF said it would not like the dismissal to have been "a punishment for his clear and exemplary stance in the management of Doñana on issues such as the dredging of the Guadalquivir, the reopening of the Aznalcóllar mines or the claim for funds so that the Doñana Biological Station can continue".[9][10]

Lora-Tamayo was appointed rector of Menéndez Pelayo International University in November 2017. Less than a year later, the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, chaired by Pedro Duque, demanded his resignation. Initially, Lora-Tamayo declined but agreed to resign after the ministry presented a motion of censure in November 2018.[11][12][13] According to Lora-Tamayo, the government asked him to resign in order to put a woman in the post, with the secretary of state, Ángeles Heras Caballero [es], arguing that this was the government's political line.[14] He was succeeded in the post by María Luz Morán Calvo-Sotelo, daughter of Fernando Morán López.[11]

Lora-Tamayo served as rector of the Universidad Camilo José Cela from 2020 to 2023.[15][16]

During his academic career, he published over 100 articles in scientific journals and presented more than 150 papers at national and international conferences. He also co-authored seven patents.[17] He was also a member of the Real Academia San Dionisio of Jerez and of the Real Academia de Ciencias y Artes de Barcelona.[18]

Lora-Tamayo died in Madrid on 29 March 2024, at the age of 73.[19][20][21]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Referencia del Consejo de Ministros" [Reference of the Council of Ministers] (in Spanish). La Moncloa. 21 February 2003. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Galería de Presidentes: Manuel Lora-Tamayo Martín" (in Spanish). CSIC. Archived from the original on 24 June 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d "Lora-Tamayo, presidente del CSIC, ingresa este lunes en la Academia de Ciencias de Murcia". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 27 November 2016.
  4. ^ "Lora-Tamayo va a sustituir a Tarrach como presidente del CSIC" [Lora-Tamayo is to replace Tarrach as president of the CSIC]. El País (in Spanish). 21 February 2003.
  5. ^ "Lora-Tamayo nuevo Presidente del CSIC" [Lora-Tamayo new President of CSIC] (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 9 November 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  6. ^ El investigador Emilio Lora-Tamayo, nuevo presidente del CSIC Archived 2012-01-27 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "La 'leyenda urbana' de la fuga de cerebros" [The 'urban legend' of the brain drain] (in Spanish). Diario El Mundo. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  8. ^ Fraga, Xosé A. (15 December 2014). "Lora-Tamayo, el presidente del CSIC, el exilio científico y el "poso" que no cesa". eldiario.es (in Spanish).
  9. ^ Delibes de Castro, Miguel (4 October 2015). "Terremoto en Doñana". El País (in Spanish).
  10. ^ Domínguez, Nuño (30 September 2015). "El CSIC destituye de forma fulminante al director de la Estación de Doñana". El País (in Spanish).
  11. ^ a b "El Consejo de Ministros aprobará el viernes el nombramiento de María Luz Morán Calvo-Sotelo como rectora de la UIMP" [The Council of Ministers will approve on Friday the appointment of María Luz Morán Calvo-Sotelo as rector of the UIMP]. ABC (in Spanish). 12 December 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  12. ^ "Emilio Lora-Tamayo, cessado como rector de la UIMP". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 9 November 2018.
  13. ^ "Universidades propondrá el cese de Emilio Lora-Tamayo como rector de la UIMP" [Universities will propose the dismissal of Emilio Lora-Tamayo as rector of the UIMP]. Europa Press (in Spanish). 7 November 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  14. ^ "Emilio Lora-Tamayo: "El Gobierno me pidió que dimitiera como rector para poner a mujer"". ABC (in Spanish). 9 November 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  15. ^ "Emilio Lora-Tamayo, nuevo Rector Magnífico de la Universidad Camilo José Cela" (in Spanish). 24 June 2019. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020.
  16. ^ "La reina Sofía, emocionada en el nombramiento de Emilio Lora -Tamayo como rector honorario" [Queen Sofia, moved at the appointment of Emilio Lora-Tamayo as honorary rector]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Madrid. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  17. ^ "CSIC homepage" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  18. ^ Tiempos de investigación: JAE-CSIC, cien años de ciencia en España (PDF) (in Spanish). Editorial CSIC. 2007. pp. 423–424. ISBN 978-84-00-08523-0.
  19. ^ "Muere Emilio Lora-Tamayo, presidente del CSIC entre 2003–2004 y 2012–2017" [Deceased Emilio Lora-Tamayo, president of the CSIC between 2003 and 2004 and 2012–2017]. Europa Press (in Spanish). 29 March 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  20. ^ "Muere Emilio Lora-Tamayo, presidente del CSIC en dos ocasiones, a los 74 años" [Emilio Lora-Tamayo, two-time president of CSIC, dies at 74]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Madrid. 29 March 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  21. ^ "Fallece Emilio Lora-Tamayo, expresidente del CSIC" [Emilio Lora-Tamayo, former president of CSIC]. www.madridiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 March 2024.
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Preceded by President of the Spanish National Research Council
2012–2017 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President of the Spanish National Research Council
2003–2004 		Succeeded by