Hans Thybo (born 19 February 1954) is a Danish geophysicist and geologist. He was a Professor of Geophysics at the Geological Institute and the Institute for Geography and Geology at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

, as well as at the Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics. at

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

. He is a professor at the Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences at

Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University ( tr, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, commonly referred to as ITU or The Technical University) is an international technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical university ...

and at the School of Earth Sciences at China University of Geosciences, Wuhan. Until a fusion in 2007 he was elected Head of Department at the Geological Institute and member of the board of Geocenter Copenhagen. He was Professor at Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management until he was dismissed from his Chair in 2016. The dismissal was later found illegal and violating employment agreements by an arbitration court and Thybo received a modest economic compensation, but the University of Copenhagen did not re-employ Thybo, nor did the University sanction his accusers. The internationally agreed principle of tenure for university professors does not apply to universities in Denmark. Thybo has earlier been associated with

Technische Hogeschool Delft Delft University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022 it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among ...

and

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. Thybo is President of International Lithosphere Program (ILP) og was earlier President for

European Geosciences Union The European Geosciences Union (EGU) is a non-profit international union in the fields of Earth, planetary, and space sciences whose vision is to "realise a sustainable and just future for humanity and for the planet." The organisation has headq ...

, where he also held posts as General Secretary and President for the Seismology Division. He has been chair for the Danish national committee for ICSU (

International Council for Science The International Council for Science (ICSU, after its former name, International Council of Scientific Unions) was an international non-governmental organization devoted to international cooperation in the advancement of science. Its members ...

). He is currently a member of Committee for Freedom and Responsibility in Science of ISC (

International Science Council The International Science Council (ISC) is an international non-governmental organization that unites scientific bodies at various levels across the social and natural sciences. The ISC was formed with its inaugural general assembly on 4 July 201 ...

). He is member of and was earlier Vicepresident of

Royal Danish Academy of Science and Letters {{Infobox organization , name = The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters , full_name = , native_name = Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab , native_name_lang = , logo = Royal ...

. He has received the 1000 Talents Award from China and he is fellow of Royal Astronomical Society, London and

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitchco ...

. He is elected member of

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of Humanities, Letters, Law, and Sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europea ...

, the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters and Danish Academy of Natural Sciences, and he has been Danish representative to

(ICSU). Hans Thybo has been leader of several geoscientific research programmes and he has been field expedition leader to e.g. the ice sheet in Greenland, east Africa and Siberia. He initiated several pan-European research programmes with east-west collaboration after the end of the cold war. His research includes the discovery of ca. 2 billion year old plate tectonic structures, the fundamental Mid-Lithospheric Discontinuity of the lithospheric mantle, the presence of molten rocks at the Core-Mantle Discontinuity at ca. 3000 km depth below Siberia, a new model for the formation of the economically important sedimentary basins, Presence of strong seismic anisotropy in cratonic crust with the implication that crust and mantle have been coupled for billions of years, and the presence of a hitherto unknown type of crust in Tibet

Early life and education

In 1978, Thybo earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

(BSc) degree in Mathematics and Physics from

Aarhus University Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...

, Denmark. In 1980, he completed his studies at the

Delft University of Technology Delft University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022 it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among ...

, the Netherlands. He earned two more degrees from Aarhus University: a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

(MSc) in Geophysics in 1982 and a PhD in Geology in 1987.

Honors

Awards

* 1998: Elected member of the

Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters {{Infobox organization , name = The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters , full_name = , native_name = Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab , native_name_lang = , logo = Royal ...

* 2004: Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, London * 2004: Elected member of the

* 2010: Elected member of the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters * 2012: Elected member of the Danish Academy of Natural Sciences * 2014: Fellow of the

* 2016: Honorary editor of the scientific journal

Tectonophysics Tectonophysics, a branch of geophysics, is the study of the physical processes that underlie tectonic deformation. The field encompasses the spatial patterns of stress, strain, and differing rheologies in the lithosphere and asthenosphere of th ...

* 2018: Thousand Talents Award

Positions

* 2002–2007: President, seismology division of the

(EGU) * 2004–2008: External member, board of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences,

* 2006–2017: Danish representative, International Committee of Scientific Unions (ICSU) * 2007–2012: General secretary, European Geosciences Union * 2010–2016: Board, European Plate Observatory System (EPOS) * 2010–present: Board,

International Lithosphere Programme International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(ILP) * 2011–2017: Vice president,

* 2013 & 2017: Vice president, European Geosciences Union * 2013–2017: Overseas expert,

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republ ...

(CAS) * 2013–present: Nomination committee,

Albert Einstein Award The Albert Einstein Award (sometimes mistakenly called the ''Albert Einstein Medal'' because it was accompanied with a gold medal) was an award in theoretical physics, given periodically from 1951 to 1979, that was established to recognize high ac ...

of the

World Cultural Council The World Cultural Council is an international organization whose goals are to promote cultural values, goodwill and philanthropy among individuals. The organization founded in 1981 and based in Mexico, has held a yearly award ceremony since 198 ...

* 2014–present: Board, Danish Academy of Natural Sciences * 2014–2016: President, European Geosciences Union * 2015–2017: President-elect, International Lithosphere Program (ILP) * 2017–present: President, International Lithosphere Program * 2017–present: Chair, Inge Lehmann Foundation * 2018–2021: Chair for five panels at the FCT – Portuguese Research Council * 2019–present: Science Advisory Board for Deep-time Digital Earth of IUGS * 2019–present: Member of the Committee for Freedom and Responsibility in Science in the

Member of several foreign research council, panels and committees in e.g. USA (NSF), Sweden (VR), International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP), Netherlands, Croatia, France, Canada and China.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thybo, Hans Danish geophysicists Danish geologists Aarhus University alumni Members of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters 1954 births Living people Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters