IN MEMORIAM

Professor George Djolov

It is with deep regret that we announce the unexpected passing of a colleague and friend, Professor George Djolov.

Born in Bulgaria but travelling and studying extensively, George's life was characterised by a diverse and distinguished career in academia. For his studies in Canada and Russia, George received two doctoral degrees, his first in Physics and Mathematics, and his second in Mechanical Engineering. In the period leading up to 1990, he served as professor of Physics in the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, founded the Institute of Ecology for the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, served as Senior Advisor on Environmental Problems to the Bulgarian State President's Office, and was President of the WFEO's Committee on Engineering and the Environment (19901995). During this period George also had a close working relationship with the Energy and Climate Task Force of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). He was a member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal "Urban Climate" from 2012 - 2018.

An extraordinary period followed in Southern Africa. George first served as co-ordinator of the BTec Programme in Applied Physics at the University of Zimbabwe. In 1996 he was appointed as Professor and Chair of Physics, and thereafter Dean of the School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Venda. In 2003, the University of the North (now Limpopo) appointed George as Professor and Director of the Faculty of Physical and Mineral Sciences. For two years thereafter, ending in 2006, he served as CEO of the National Community Water and Sanitation Training Institute in Polokwane (then Pietersburg). During this time, he co-supervised a Ph-D student at the Northwest University and was appointed an extraordinary professor at the North-West University from 2004 -2007.

After his formal retirement, Professor George Djolov joined the University of Pretoria as a meteorologist and Extraordinary Professor in the Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology in 2007. George continued to be highly active over the following decade. He taught each year into the meteorology programme and published and supervised postgraduate students in his favoured fields of meteorology, namely theoretical and numerical geophysical hydrodynamics, atmospheric physics and boundary layer dynamics, climate change, air pollution modelling and environmental physics. During his time in Africa he raised in excess of R17 million in research grants, co-authored and/or published four book and in excess of 100 journal articles. In 2015, the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences honoured George for his distinguished career and contribution to science.

In his final three years he managed the University of Pretoria's Laboratory for Atmospherics Studies. While liaising with industry, his primary role supported research and student supervision in the field of air quality management. George was more than a colleague at the University of Pretoria. He was a statesman for academia and for many also a friend and confidant. Always humble, he established an astounding rapport with his students and colleagues, and will be severely missed by all.

Originally published by the University of Pretoria, this piece has been edited and some content added by Professor JJ Pienaar, School for Physical and Chemical Sciences, North-West University.