Mesko, Attila

Geophysicist, university professor, deputy secretary-general of the Hungarian Science Academy

He was born in 1940 and obtained his degree from the Eötvös Lóránd University (ELTE) in 1964. He began his career at the Seismologic Observatory of the Hungarian Science Academy. In the meantime, he carried out post-doctoral research work at various British universities (Cambridge, Durham and Newcastle-upon-Tyne) in 1967-68. In 1970-71 he worked in Houston (Texas, US) at the Texas Instruments Company on computers used to process geophysical data. He was counsellor, later advisor to the director of the Geophysics Research Company where he participated in the introduction of digital data processing in Hungary. From 1973 he was a lecturer at the Department of Geophysics of ELTE, Faculty of Sciences, university professor from 1980, and head of department from 1895.

He is president of the Presidential Environmental Committee of the Hungarian Science Academy, managing president of the Scientific Council of the Disaster Prevention Committee, deputy president of OTKA (National Science Foundation). His main fields of research are geophysics, data processing and evaluation, issues of the environment and sustainability.

Questions of the Sustainability of Life on Earth