Two recipients of 2013 IULTCS Merit Award

At the recent IULTCS Executive Committee meeting in Paris voting was tied between two outstanding and very deserving candidates and so the unprecedented decision was taken to present two Merit Awards during the Global Congress in Istanbul next May. The joint winners are: Dr Eleanor Brown of the USDA Eastern Regional Research Institute in the USA, and Prof. Guenter Reich, recently retired from the FILK Institute in Germany. President Dr Volkan Candar and the IULTCS Executive Committee extend their whole-hearted congratulations to both deserving recipients. Through their life’s work, both Dr. Brown and Prof. Reich have exemplified the very purpose for which the IULTCS was founded more than a century ago; that is to encourage the technology, chemistry and science of leather on a worldwide basis.

Dr. Eleanor (Ellie) Brown is Lead Scientist at the Eastern Regional Research Center of the United States Department of Agriculture (ERRC, ARS, USDA). Since 1971, she has studied protein structure and investigated the relationships between structure and biological or technological function. From 1990 Dr Brown has been leading projects designed to reduce the environmental impact of leather production and has helped develop a basis for understanding the mechanisms of tanning using molecular modelling.

Dr Brown has collaborated with researchers in the USA and worldwide to study collagen structure and its function in tanning. She has worked on developing value added products from tannery waste. Her reputation draws scientists from around the world come to her laboratory and work on the biochemical fundamentals of tanning. Dr Brown is an active member of the ALCA and a member of the Editorial Board of the JALCA leather journal.

Prof. Guenter Reich was had a distinguished 37 year career at the German Leather Institute in Freiberg (known today as FILK), and for the last 26 years he was head of the Institute. He has published many scientific papers on leather and collagen and started the successful Freiberg Collagen Symposium. Through his career he has submitted more than 50 patents.

Following his retirement in 1993, Prof. Reich has continued to be very active in the leather industry. He continues to publish regularly on leather topics and is a scientific reviewer for German leather journals. He is a valued consultant on leather and collagen, and his skills are especially appreciated by many young researchers because of his ability to communicate clearly on complex concepts and to pass on his extensive knowledge.