116
on behalf of the Canarian Government. Neither could we get the new law to
stipulate, as we would have wished, that the Director of the IAC should be
elected by an independent international committee of astrophysicists of
repute. Since I wanted to retire with an easy mind, I became obsessed with
this matter. It simply could not be, as is habitual in large research centres in
Spain, that the IAC’s director should be appointed by the minister of the day
according to party interests.
The Statutes needed to be drawn up, and we got down to work. We did
what we always do at the IAC when confronted with a serious problem: we set
up a working group to assist the IAC Director’s office in its deliberations. It
was a wide-ranging group made up of the Board of Governors and the most
distinguished members of the IAC. We met regularly every week to investigate how best to influence the delicate and ever-changing process of drafting
the Statutes. The Statutes were being drafted by the Ministry of Science,
Technology, and Innovation, but by law they had to be approved by the
Canarian Government. I recall that, in the letter of appointment to the working group, to give them encouragement, I wrote, ‘Of course, it will not be
easy. But, as on other occasions, we shall prevail by combining our grey matter, and acting with intelligence and decision’.
Although we did not achieve all that we had wished, we did make a number
of gains. And, of course, we won on the issue of the Director being selected
from candidates worldwide by an independent international scientific committee. We had brought off quite a coup. It was an epic battle and took two
legislatures for us to achieve something so common-sensical. I was forced to
delay my retirement until I was 77 years old, but the IAC had finally caused a
new route to be taken in the regulation of public research organisms in Spain.
This was to be my last battle. I am content that under this new procedure
Professor Rafael Rebolo—a renowned astrophysicist and efficient manager—
is now at the helm of the IAC.
I imagine that the politicians and senior civil servants of various state
administrations, and the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands
were very happy to see the last this obstinate, stubborn, insistent, and demanding person that they added to the Statutes the following additional clause:
‘The first Director of the IAC Don Francisco Sánchez Martínez, in recognition of his extraordinary labours in building astrophysics in Spain, shall be
given the life-long, honorific title of Founding Director of the IAC’.
F. Sánchez
on behalf of the Canarian Government. Neither could we get the new law to
stipulate, as we would have wished, that the Director of the IAC should be
elected by an independent international committee of astrophysicists of
repute. Since I wanted to retire with an easy mind, I became obsessed with
this matter. It simply could not be, as is habitual in large research centres in
Spain, that the IAC’s director should be appointed by the minister of the day
according to party interests.
The Statutes needed to be drawn up, and we got down to work. We did
what we always do at the IAC when confronted with a serious problem: we set
up a working group to assist the IAC Director’s office in its deliberations. It
was a wide-ranging group made up of the Board of Governors and the most
distinguished members of the IAC. We met regularly every week to investigate how best to influence the delicate and ever-changing process of drafting
the Statutes. The Statutes were being drafted by the Ministry of Science,
Technology, and Innovation, but by law they had to be approved by the
Canarian Government. I recall that, in the letter of appointment to the working group, to give them encouragement, I wrote, ‘Of course, it will not be
easy. But, as on other occasions, we shall prevail by combining our grey matter, and acting with intelligence and decision’.
Although we did not achieve all that we had wished, we did make a number
of gains. And, of course, we won on the issue of the Director being selected
from candidates worldwide by an independent international scientific committee. We had brought off quite a coup. It was an epic battle and took two
legislatures for us to achieve something so common-sensical. I was forced to
delay my retirement until I was 77 years old, but the IAC had finally caused a
new route to be taken in the regulation of public research organisms in Spain.
This was to be my last battle. I am content that under this new procedure
Professor Rafael Rebolo—a renowned astrophysicist and efficient manager—
is now at the helm of the IAC.
I imagine that the politicians and senior civil servants of various state
administrations, and the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands
were very happy to see the last this obstinate, stubborn, insistent, and demanding person that they added to the Statutes the following additional clause:
‘The first Director of the IAC Don Francisco Sánchez Martínez, in recognition of his extraordinary labours in building astrophysics in Spain, shall be
given the life-long, honorific title of Founding Director of the IAC’.
F. Sánchez