Margalith Galun

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Margalith Galun
Born
Melitta Katz

(1927-02-21)21 February 1927
Vienna, Austria
Died16 April 2012(2012-04-16) (aged 85)
NationalityIsraeli
Occupationlichenologist
Years active1961–2006

Margalith Galun (

lichenologist. She was a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and established the Israeli collection of lichens at Tel Aviv University. Founder of the academic journal Symbiosis, she served as its editor-in-chief between 1985 and 2006. In 1994, she was awarded the Acharius Medal and in 1996 won the Meitner-Humboldt Prize, for her contributions to the field. The International Association for Lichenology
grants an award which bears her name to honor scholarship at their quadrennial symposium.

Early life

Melitta Katz was born on 21 February 1927 in Vienna, Austria to Amalia (née Teitelbaum) and Arie Katz.[1][2] Originally from Lviv, her father was a merchant and was involved in the Zionist and socialist movements.[1] After completing her elementary school in Vienna and beginning her gymnasium studies, her family decided to immigrate in 1938.[3] They were unsuccessful in leaving Austria and to get their daughter out of the country Melitta was adopted by a Jewish-Swiss family, changing her name to Margalith, in 1939.[1] Her parents were eventually able to join their daughter in Switzerland and in October of that year, the family immigrated to Palestine.[2] In Tel Aviv, Katz completed her secondary studies at Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium in 1946, and went to live and work at the kibbutz of Kfar Giladi for several months. When her mother died, she returned to Tel Aviv to be with her father and enrolled in courses at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1947.[4]

Within a month, the

Israel Reichart, earning her PhD.[4]

Career

Joining her husband in

professor in 1977.[1] In addition to serving as department chair and on various departmental committees, she served as Dean of Students from 1977 to 1980, as a member of the Admissions Committee from 1978 to 1985; on the Board of Directors from 1989–1992, as well as other administrative positions. She also served on the Scientific Council at the Institute of Nature Conservation between 1988 and 1991.[5]

Margalith Galun around 1985

Simultaneously with her teaching, Galun conducted research on

lichens.[6] Establishing a research group, Galun led her students to collect samples and create the collection of lichens from throughout Israel for the university. Eventually their collection became international, including samples from many other countries.[4] Initially her own research focused on identifying the varieties of lichen in Israel, but soon turned her attention to vegetative tissue, or thallus, to evaluate the interaction between algae and fungus during its formation.[6] Studying the signalling molecules with electron microscopy, she wrote over 90 papers about lichen symbiosis and the absorption of metals by lichens,[6] becoming "recognized as one of the world's foremost lichenologists".[7]

In 1985, Galun founded the academic journal Symbiosis and served as its editor-in-chief from 1985 to 2006.[6] Between 1987 and 1993, she was the vice president of the International Association for Lichenology and during her term organized the first International Symbiosis Congress held in Jerusalem in 1991.[8] She served as editor for the three volume work Handbook of Lichenology (CRC Press, 1988), which gave an encyclopedic overview of the research and discoveries in the field from Simon Schwendener's pioneering work to the present date.[9] In 1994, Galun was the recipient of the Acharius Medal presented by the International Association for Lichenology[10] and in 1996, she was awarded the Meitner-Humboldt Prize from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.[11]

Death and legacy

Galun died on 16 April 2012 after a lengthy illness.[4] An annual award bearing her name was initiated in 2012 by the International Association for Lichenology to be given to the outstanding student presenter at the organization's quadrennial symposium.[12]

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Hanus 2002, p. 222.
  2. ^ a b c Korotin 2016, p. 971.
  3. ^ Balaban 2012, p. 149.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Balaban 2012, p. 150.
  5. ^ Hanus 2002, pp. 222–223.
  6. ^ a b c d Richardson & Seaward 2013, p. 291.
  7. ^ Richardson & Seaward 2013, p. 292.
  8. ^ Richardson & Seaward 2013, pp. 292–293.
  9. ^ Richardson & Hawksworth 1989, p. 393.
  10. ^ "Acharius Medallists". International Association for Lichenology. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  11. ^ Hanus 2002, p. 223.
  12. ^ Lumbsch 2012, p. 2.

Bibliography

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