With great sadness we have to announce the death of Rubén Héctor Vallejos, first Director of our Institute.
Dr. Vallejos was born in Olavarría, Buenos Aires. He received his Pharmacy degree (1958) and a degree in Biochemistry (1961) from the National University of La Plata, and at the same university he completed his Doctoral Thesis on "Properties of multi-enzyme electron transport systems", under the direction of Dr. Andrés O.M. Stoppani (1965). He was a CONICET scholarship holder (Initiation, Improvement and External); in 1967 he entered the CONICET Scientific Researcher Career and in 1993 he reached the category of Senior Researcher. In 1970 he was appointed Full Professor of Biological Chemistry at the Faculty of Biochemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences of UNR, in Rosario.
In 1976, he founded CEFOBI, Center for Photosynthetic and Biochemical Studies, through an agreement between CONICET, the National University of Rosario and the Miguel Lillo Foundation. CEFOBI, an institute for basic and applied research in the area of biological sciences became the first CONICET institute in the city of Rosario. Dr. Vallejos was his first director, retiring from the activity and direction at the time of his retirement in 2006.
Dr. Rubén Vallejos has published more than 90 scientific papers, organized and participated in more than 50 national and international conferences, courses and dissertations and has established agreements with different organizations for the development of biotechnology and plant transformation, registering one of the first national patents on the subject.
El Dr. Rubén Vallejos fue huésped de la Johnson Research Foundation, Universidad de Pensylvania (U.S.A.); miembro Titular de la Academia de Ciencias de América Latina (ACAL); Académico Correspondiente Nacional de la Academia de Ciencias Médicas de Córdoba y de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; miembro del International Committee on Photosynthesis y representante titular del CONICET ante la Comisión Nacional Asesora en Biotecnología Agropecuaria (CONABIA) dependiente de la Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca. Recibió uno de los Premios Konex 1993 a la Ciencia y Tecnología, por cuanto ha sido designado una de las 5 mejores figuras de la década de la Ciencia y la Tecnología Argentinas en la disciplina Bioquímica y Microbiología; y el Premio “Luis Federico Leloir” por la labor desarrollada en el campo de la Bioquímica y la Biotecnología otorgado por la Asociación Química Argentina (1995). Un año antes, el CEFOBI, bajo su dirección, fue seleccionado por la Academia de Ciencias del Tercer Mundo (TWAS) como Centro de Excelencia en el Sur.
Undoubtedly, one of the most outstanding contributions of Dr. Rubén Vallejos was the training of human resources. He was director of 24 doctoral theses from the UNR, UBA and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile between 1977 and 2009. His mentees have subsequently been notable researchers who served as professors, directors and founders of other CONICET institutes (CEFOBI, INTECH, IBR, IAL , IICAR).
The work of Dr. Rubén Vallejos has been foundational and his legacy will remain intact among those who knew him. RIP Dr. Vallejos.
Dr. Rubén Héctor Vallejos
21/06/1934 – 26/11/2022