Prof. Donald B. Dingwell
Retired professor of mineralogy, petrology, and volcanology
Donald Bruce Dingwell (Canadian/German) is Distinguished Professor (Hangzhou International Innovation Institute) and Professor em. (LMU – Munich). He was director of the Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences at LMU for over 20 years since its founding. He has published ca. 600 papers on geomaterials, magmas and volcanism and its environmental interactions. His approach is fundamentally experimental and materials-based and has been honoured with 5 national/provincial/city orders (incl. Germany, Canada, China), 6 honorary degrees, 11 academy memberships and 13 national and international medals and awards. He has served as President of the European Geosciences Union and the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (est. 1919). He was the 3rd and last Secretary-General of the European Research Council and is currently President of the Academia Europaea (2025-2028) and Chair of the Board of the SAPEA Project (2025-2027).
Major Medals and Awards
- Gustav STEINMANN Medal - DGGV (German Geological Society) (2023)
- Willet. G. MILLER Medal - Royal Society of Canada (2022)
- Harry. H. HESS Medal
- American Geophysical Union (2020)
- Arthur HOLMES Medal
- European Geosciences Union (2020)
- Abraham-Gottlob-WERNER Medal
- German Mineralogical Society (DMG) (2019)
- VIP Career Achievement Award
- Geological Association of Canada (2019)
- Arthur L. DAY Medal - Geological Society of America (2016)
- PEACOCK Medal - Mineralogical Association of Canada (2015)
- Otto SCHOTT Research Award
- Ernst-Abbe-Fonds (2014)
- Norman Levi BOWEN Award of the American Geophysical Union (2013)
- Robert Wilhelm BUNSEN Medal
- European Geoscience Union (2008)
- MSA AWARD
- Mineralogical Society of America (1996)
- Victor-Moritz-GOLDSCHMIDT-Prize
- German Mineralogical Society (DMG) (1991)
Academies and Orders
- Honorary Member of the Romanian Academy (2025)
- Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) (2025)
- Honorary Fellow of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2024)
- Corresponding Member – Royal Society of Edinburgh (2024)
- Foreign member – Chinese Academy of Sciences (2023)
- Corresponding member - Academia Mexicana de Ciencias (AMC) (2022)
- Fellow - Royal Society (London) (2021)
- Member - German National Academy of Science - LEOPOLDINA (2017)
- Member - German National Academy of Science and Engineering – ACATECH (2013)
- Member - Royal Society of Canada (2010)
- Member – Academia Europaea (2007)
- Friendship Award of the People´s Republic of China (2025)
- Qianjiang Friendship Award of the City of Hangzhou (2025)
- Order of Newfoundland and Labrador
- O.N.L. (2021)
- Order of Canada - Officer (O.C.) (2020)
- Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany - Bundesverdienstkreuz (2013)
Honorary Degrees
- D.Sc. (honoris causa) – University of Bari (2024)
- D.Sc. (honoris causa) – Beihang University (2024)
- D.Sc. (honoris causa) – Simon Fraser University (2023)
- D.Sc. (honoris causa) – Universidad Nacional Autonóma de México (UNAM) (2019)
- D.Sc. (honoris causa) – University College London (2012)
- D.Sc. (honoris causa) – University of Alberta (2012)
Research Interests
I am an experimental geoscientist. My work concerns mainly geomaterials and magmas as well as volcanism and its environmental and technological interactions.