Manuel Regueiro
It is a pleasure of the current president to award one of his predecessors; more exactly his great grand father in the chair of the EFG; with the Medal of Merit of the organization. Professor Manuel Regueiro y GONZALES – BARROS, for us Manuel, for closer friends in Spain simply Manolo, is a very discrete man. I simply did not ever find a mention of his year of birth in his CV. Certainly; it is highly confidential; so to say classified data. What we know is that he graduated in 1979 right on time to witness another birth, the birth of the EFG in 1980. It is very important to mention that his career until now has been related to the professional part of geological prospecting; exploring and explaining minerals and mineral resources. In his active career he has twice crosses boundaries within geology which are usually very difficult to cross and if you do; later you often come to the conclusion, that you have bought a one way ticket. Less mysteriously; first he moved from conventional ore exploration to uranium prospection than back to the aggregate industry looking for limestone and mark for the cement industry than again crossed “iron curtain” to join Anadrill Schlumberger in oil exploration and shortly afterwards back to engineering geology. However; with this last switch the period of early adventures in his life has ended – for the time being – and since then he has been active in mineral exploration and geological engineering.
Needless to say that such a broad professional carrier has assisted him in being deeply involved in the social life of our profession. In addition to his activity in his homeland; at a very early stage he joined international organizations; including the European Federation of Geologists. As the youngest President of the EFG in office so far and enthusiastically supporting the strategic goals of the Federation (extension of EurGeol, titles and their reputation in many countries, increasing the number of member associations; establishment and maintenance of the Brussels office; establishment of the European Geologist magazine and last but not least the founding father of the traditional wine contest at the Council meetings) he has set milestones in the historical record of the Federation. He has been one of the most devoted guardians of the ‘four pillars’ (copyright Gareth Jones) of the EurGeol title. I would however highlight his ‘fifth pillar’, his excellence in serving, in his words “as a humble geologist”, promoting the aims and interests of the Federation; or those of his National Association over his own. In recent times; such characters are less and less frequent in our society an in professional organizations all over the world; I wish that the EFG will follow his example and in this case this Medal of Merit is the least compensation Manuel deserves for the lessons we learned from him. Manuel, I wish you good luck; good health and happiness equally in your professional and private life”.
Needless to say that such a broad professional carrier has assisted him in being deeply involved in the social life of our profession. In addition to his activity in his homeland; at a very early stage he joined international organizations; including the European Federation of Geologists. As the youngest President of the EFG in office so far and enthusiastically supporting the strategic goals of the Federation (extension of EurGeol, titles and their reputation in many countries, increasing the number of member associations; establishment and maintenance of the Brussels office; establishment of the European Geologist magazine and last but not least the founding father of the traditional wine contest at the Council meetings) he has set milestones in the historical record of the Federation. He has been one of the most devoted guardians of the ‘four pillars’ (copyright Gareth Jones) of the EurGeol title. I would however highlight his ‘fifth pillar’, his excellence in serving, in his words “as a humble geologist”, promoting the aims and interests of the Federation; or those of his National Association over his own. In recent times; such characters are less and less frequent in our society an in professional organizations all over the world; I wish that the EFG will follow his example and in this case this Medal of Merit is the least compensation Manuel deserves for the lessons we learned from him. Manuel, I wish you good luck; good health and happiness equally in your professional and private life”.
