Date: 21 November 2001
Place of Ceremony: Aula Academiegebow
Host Institution: The Utrecht University
Host Country: Utrecht, The Netherlands
During the welcome address the Rector of the University, Prof. Willem Hendrik Gispen expressed “Today we are here to recognise outstanding leaders in the fields of science arts and I am delighted to host this ceremony in association with the World Cultural Council and to witness today the presentation of the Global Foundation.
“The Utrecht University is very grateful that institutions such as the World Cultural Council had the vision to select, recognise and reward international excellence in the field of arts, education and science. Today we are here to recognise and honour Niels Birbaumer and Edna Hibel. Both have been important in the advancement of Sciences and Arts for the benefit of mankind-”
Rafael Estrada, President of the World Cultural Council welcome the audience with his words of hope
“World problems like crime, drugs, terrorism and violence in general need to have an adequate answer. As teachers and educators, we can say that the answer is in education, in the promotion of values and virtues. The answer is obviously a long-term one and requires perseverance and patience.
“We are on this path, creating the structures that will last in time and that can be expanded throughout the world. We are convinced that we can be the heralds of a better world; we may not live to see this world, but our descendents will benefit from it. A world in which east and west will grow close through bonds of brotherhood, a world in which religions will be opportunities for union, a world in which priest and atheist will recognise each other as brothers, and in which philosopher and scientist will both understand a common language of human advancement.
“I can assure you that this is not a search for utopia. If evil exists in every man and there is no human being who does not make mistakes, goodness also exists in everyone and there is no human being without any virtue.”
Prof. Niels Birbaumer, Professor of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology at the University of Tübingen, Germany, who acknowledge:
“Let me express my gratitude for this splendid award. The fact that the Einstein World Award of Science is given by the World Cultural Council, an organization centered in Mexico carries a strong symbolic meaning for me…”
Edna Hibel who has often been referred as the USA’s most versatile artist, as well as its best colorist, expressed after been awarded with the Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts:
“I feel that any of the things that had happened to me, except now,- I have three children-, this is the best! It is wonderful and I hope that in my way I can, well I have been trying all my life to paint beauty, love, compassion, and all the things that we want the world to be”.
The Rector Prof. Gispen introduces Dr. Estrada to say the opening declaration of the Global Foundation who expressed “I solemnly declare founded the Global Foundation” in the presence of the Council of Chancellors constituted by noteworthy personalities.
This venue presented the recipients of the Prizes and celebrated the achievements of more than two decades of work and efforts.
The Global Foundation encompasses associated organizations established by “Dr Estrada’s original view led to the progressive and pragmatic creation of different bodies, all aiming, from various horizons and with appropriate objectives, to contribute to the progress of humankind, regardless of race, ethic group, culture, creed, gender, age or level of understanding.” These organisms are:
- The World Cultural Council
- The World Peace Organization
- The Albert Einstein University
- The Health And Culture Fund
- The Cultural Centre
As Prof. Jacques E. Dubois, Chancellor of the Global Foundation said during his speech “The primary merit and originality of this Foundation is its holistic vision of world culture as integrating a sense of purpose, principles and values, in knowledge, science and art”.
“This holistic view was first and foremost the vision of an exceptional human being, Dr José Rafael Estrada who, in the early 1960s, began to establish Schools of “Human Development” in Latin America. Through these experiences in a world less dominated than wealthier industrial countries by the Galilean teaching of Science, and a Scholarly approach to other human activities, including the arts and philosophy, some original and more global teaching methods were developed.”
The members of the Council of Chancellors were recognised by a medal and a diploma acknowledging their dedication to science making contributions to the enhancement of humankind and their valuable participation to the organization.
Prof. Werner Arber, Biochemist, Nobel Prize of Medicine, University of Basel, Switzerland; Prof. Cornelis de Jager, Astrophysicist, Utrecht University, The Netherlands; Prof. Jacques E. Dubois, Chemistry, University of Paris, France; Prof. Robert Huber, Biochemist, Max Planck Institute, Nobel Prize of Chemistry, Germany; Dr Ashok Karande, Environmental Biologist, University of Bombay, India; Prof. Bernhard Neumann, Mathemathician, Australian National University, Australia; Prof. Phillip Tobias,Paleoanthropologist, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.
Rafael Estrada, Founder of the Global Foundation, Mexico, his diploma and medal was delivered by Prof. Gispen Rector of Utrecht University, who acted as witness of honour with the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Prof. Stoof and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts Prof. Bertens.
“Fifty six years ago, after the dropping of the first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagassaki, one often heard the desperate cry, ‘Stop all science for ten years, until ethics has caught up’”.
“The Foundation” aims to promote rapprochement, acceptance and respect among the existing ideological and cultural currents”….these few words show the world’s great need of such a body, as we stand poised upon a new century and a new millennium which have erupted with such an inauspicious beginning…
If it is true to its stated ideals I believe that the Global Foundation has a significant role to play, as we move beyond the beginning of the third millennium”.
– Prof. Phillip Tobias, Vice President World Cultural Council.
