Physicist and former president of Eletrobras Luiz Pinguelli Rosa passed away this Thursday (3), at age 80. Doctor in physics, master of science in nuclear engineering, Pinguelli was a professor at UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro); in 2013 he received the title of professor emeritus of the institution.
He was in charge of the state energy company between 2003 and 2004, during the government of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).
The academic was hospitalized at Hospital São Lucas, in Rio, and the cause of death was not disclosed. The wake will take place in the Atrium of the University Palace, on the Praia Vermelha campus, in the state capital.
UFRJ declared three days of official mourning. “The Dean of UFRJ deeply regrets the departure of Pinguelli, born defender of the Brazilian university and the diffusion of science and technology. His commitment to a quality university that exudes research will leave a gap between us and permanent learning. , friends and the academic community at this time of consternation”, says a statement released by the institution.
Pinguelli was director for four terms of Coppe (Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute of Graduate Studies and Research in Engineering), at UFRJ, one of the largest centers of teaching and research in engineering in Latin America. He was also a member of the ABC (Brazilian Academy of Sciences).
According to UFRJ, he has supervised dozens of master’s dissertations and doctoral theses and has received several awards, including the 2014 personality of the year, from the ANP (Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e BiocombustÃveis).
The academic was also the executive secretary of the Brazilian Forum on Climate Change, a scientific body of the Brazilian government that studies the problem of global warming and its implications for the country.
His current areas of research focused on energy planning, climate change, in addition to epistemology and the history of science. Pinguelli’s research has already been devoted to nuclear engineering, reactor physics, theoretical physics and particle physics.
He was also a researcher and visiting professor at several universities abroad, including Stanford University (USA), University of Pennsylvania (USA), Grenoble Alpes University (France), University of Krakow (Poland) and the International Center for Research in the Environment and Development (France).
A member of the Pugwash Council – an entity created by Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russell –, Pinguelli was participating in the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), an institution that received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
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