The Order of the Baobab in Gold

Friedel Sellschop Awarded for:

Exceptional contribution to the field of nuclear physics and for detecting the first naturally occurring neutrino.

Profile of Friedel Sellschop

Prof Friedel Sellschop is regarded as one of the leading scientists in the field of geoscience in South Africa and the world.

He placed South African science on the map in February 1965 as part of a team that detected the first neutrino in nature, some two miles underground at East Rand Proprietary Mines.

Prof Sellschop contributed to the shaping of science policy in South Africa. Through his guidance and expertise, the then Department od Arts, culture, Science and Technology undertook the National Research and Technology Foresight exercise, which was completed in 1998.

He held four honorary doctorates, one of which he received from the University of Frankfurt, Germany, in 1989.