A Makerere University’s Professor from the department of Agricultural and Bio-systems Engineering was awarded the Pius XI Golden Medal directly from Vatican’s Pope Francis’ hands.
Prof. Noble Banadda has officially become the first African recipient of the prestigious Pius XI Golden Medal Award since its establishment by Pope John XXIII in 1961.
“This afternoon on November 12, 2018, I met the Holy See, Pope Francis at the Vatican and he personally awarded me the Pius XI Golden Medal Award for Scientific Excellence and publication. It is a great honor to me as the first African recipient of the golden award,” the excited Banadda said.
While speaking at the Pontifical Academy, His Holiness Pope Francis praised the scientists for the job well done as he wished them success in their research so that people’s lives would be transformed for the better.
“You, dear scientists and friends of science, have been entrusted with the keys of knowledge. I would like to stand before you as the advocate of the peoples that receive only rarely and from afar the benefits of vast human knowledge and its achievements, especially in the areas of nutrition, health, education, connectivity, well-being and peace. Allow me to say to you in their name: may your research benefit all, so that the peoples of the earth will be fed, given to drink, healed and educated,” read part of the His Holiness’ remarks.
The 43 year old Prof Banadda was also the first black African to get a PhD in chemical engineering from the Katholieke Universiteit-Leuven in Belgium, one of the oldest universities in the world.
You must be logged in to post a comment.