“For today, Chancellor, we honor an extraordinary woman and a great leader of her people. Her Royal Highness has led by her example of tenacity, vision, and a deep commitment to humanity. To her fellow scientists, she shows how the resources of the most traditional sciences can be applied vigorously to real-life problems without loss of integrity and with demonstrable benefit to the environment. To her people, she has given hope by redirecting their energies towards projects that bring life and fulfillment. To other countries, she has an important message about environmental responsibility and the proper use of resources. She performed all of these roles with a special elegance and strength of mind and presence” (Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Wollongong, Professor Gerard Sutton, upon awarding the Doctor of Sciences, honoris causa, to HRH Princess Chulabhorn in 1999).

These words are even more true today, for HRH Princess Chulabhorn continues her tireless efforts with even more vigor, more tenacity and dedication than ever before. The results of her efforts are impressive. So many honors have been conferred upon her that listing them all would be a virtually unmanageable task.

Princess Chulabhorn’s academic accomplishments are common knowledge. She gained a Bachelor of Science degree with first class honors in 1979 from Kasetsart University, followed by a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry in 1985 from Mahidol University. She was a prize winner at both universities. She undertook postdoctoral studies in Germany in 1987 and has since been a Visiting Fellow and Professor at universities in the United States, Germany, and Japan. Her Royal Highness has also published articles in international scientific journals, especially in the field of the chemistry of natural products.

In recognition of her scientific achievements, she has also been appointed to various United Nations posts, such as being named Special Advisor to the United Nations Environment Program and member of the Special High-level Council for the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction. She is also the Chairperson of the Working Group on the Chemistry of Natural Products collaborative program between the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the National Research Council of Thailand. She is an executive member of the Board of the International Organization for Chemical Sciences in Development and has been Patron of the International Foundation for Science (Sweden). In 1986 she became the first Asian to be invited as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, London. Furthermore, she was the third person to be awarded the Einstein Gold Medal by UNESCO for her continuous efforts in promoting scientific collaboration in Asia and the Pacific.

The Chulabhorn Research Institute

Despite her impressive credentials, few would disagree that Princess Chulabhorn’s greatest accomplishment and contribution is the creation of the research institute of which she is the President and which bears her name. It is through the Chulabhorn Research Institute (CRI) that the Princess has carved a place of respect and honor for Thailand in the international scientific community. Since its inception in 1987 the Institute has provided an environment for scientists to work for the benefit of Thailand. The Institute brings together intellectual and other resources and focuses them on solving the urgent problems confronting the country in areas such as health, the environment, and agriculture. It also aims at promoting and conducting basic as well as applied research of national importance, in particular, research that will improve people’s quality of life.

Other important objectives are to act as a center for educating and developing high-caliber personnel in the field of science and technology, as well as to bring together local and foreign scientists to discuss and solve emerging problems; to promote scientific exchange and act as a center for international cooperation; and to identify, catalyze, and mobilize resources for research and development in science and technology.

As a scientist, Princess Chulabhorn knows that science is universal and that to succeed, the work of the Institute has to be of international standard. She has traveled overseas to centers of advanced science and technology to study the management and administration of research institutes, share the results of her work, exchange knowledge, and seek cooperation from governments and institutions.

The Institute and Princess Chulabhorn’s achievements and skills are of great benefit not only to Thailand but also to other countries. The United Nations Environment Program appointed her Director of its Center of Excellence for Environmental and Industrial Toxicology. She also attended the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro as the leader of the Thai delegation and has been an Ambassador of Goodwill for the World Health Organization.

The Environmental Mutagen Society International Fellow Award

The Environmental Mutagen Society (EMS), founded in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in 1969, is the primary scientific society fostering research on the basic mechanisms of mutagenesis (that is, the origin and development of a mutation), as well as on the application of this knowledge in the field of genetic toxicology.

On 30 April 2002, Dr. David di Marini, President of the Environmental Mutagen Society, presented the prestigious EMS-Hollaender International Fellow Award 2002 to Her Royal Highness as the second-ever recipient of this award, during the banquet held for the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Environmental Mutagen Society and the EMS 2002 conference, Frontiers Beyond the Human Genome, held in Anchorage, Alaska, between 27 April and 3 May. The award ceremony was attended by over 300 members of the international scientific and academic community. The objective of this distinguished award is to honor outstanding scientists from countries with developing environmental mutagenesis programs. These individuals are expected to be senior scientists who have made significant contributions in promoting this field of science in their countries or internationally, and who have sustainable programs.

This award if the result of the late Alex Hollaender’s vision, and recognizes outstanding scientists from countries in which environmental mutagenesis programs are in the developmental stages. So it is not surprising that Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn was chosen to receive this award, since both CRI and EMS share the belief that the applications of science and scientific research should be directed towards improving our health and the protection of the environment, to ensure an acceptable quality of life for the world’s population.

At the CRI laboratories, work is constantly being carried out in various areas that are compatible with the main objectives of EMS: isolation and purification of natural products, particularly the Thai medicinal plants with antineoplastic and cancer chemopreventive properties, as well as studies in genetic alterations in certain types of cancer prevalent in Thailand, and the evaluation of health risks from exposure to genotoxic compounds in air pollution in Bangkok. At the same time, the Institute tries to develop techniques for detection of malaria and separation of parasitized cells by dielectrophoresis, through a collaborative research project with the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas in Houston. These are but a few examples that illustrate CRI’s interests and its attempts to achieve the ultimate goals of improving the quality of life of the people.

The Institute’s core activities also involve education and training programs in which the area of environmental toxicology and chemico-carcinogenesis is a priority. CRI has recognized that the most critical factors that will lead to sustainable development are qualified and trained human resources and research addressing these problems. Within the Institute, the International Center for Environmental and Industrial Toxicology has been established. The Center focuses on development of human resources in environmental toxicology, primarily for developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

A further dimension of the Institute’s work in human resource development has been the creation of an international inter-university postgraduate program at Ph.D. and M.Sc. levels in Environmental Toxicology, Technology, and Management. The program’s faculty draws upon international collaboration by inviting visiting professors from leading institutions worldwide to share their expertise in both the classroom and the laboratory.

Upon accepting the EMS International Fellow Award, Her Royal Highness thanked the society for the honor conferred upon her, adding that the goals shared by CRI and EMS would certainly have an important inpact, creating a safer and healthier environment for all future generations.

The tireless efforts of Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn in the field of scientific research will undoubtedly continue to be recognized by the scientific community around the world. The following words by Vice-Chancellor Sutton, though uttered in 1999, continue to capture the essence of Her Royal Highness’ dedication to service:

“In Her Royal Highness we have found a scientist who… has faced these obligations and fitted science to the service of people and the world they live in.”