It is with such great sorrow that I announce to the AJFNS fraternity, the passing away of Dr. Abraham Besrat who, we have learnt, died after a brief illness in his home in Ethiopia. Abraham had a way with people. He was indeed a dear friend to many of us.

For the past 3 years I have known Abraham as he participated in capacity building efforts in nutrition, advocating Africa's case, and acting as a bridge between the donors and the African professionals. His many years in Tokyo at the United Nations University as Vice- Rector , and his desire to make a real mark on the continent after so many years away, made him feel a sense of responsibility for the continent. He was a true diplomat, a quiet operator, a truly personable and warm human being.

Many of us interacted with him at the 29th UN/System Nutrition Forum annual meeting which took place in Berlin in March this year, where, although he complained of not feeling well, he was extremely active and participative.

Abraham was truly supportive of AJFNS in particular, and capacity building in general.

I am saddened by his passing away at this critical time of our quest to make a difference.
I wish to lead you all in pledging messages of condolence on the AJFNS Website. Our prayers and warm thoughts go to his family.

MAY GOD THE ALMIGHTY REST HIS SOUL IN ETERNAL PEACE.

Ruth K. Oniang'o, oniango@iconnect.co.ke
Editor-in-Chief, African Journal of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Kenya

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I met Abraham at MIT in the mid 80s and we have not met since, until the SCN meeting in Berlin. We discussed the opportunity to work together towards Capacity Development Initiatives in Africa and Asia, and felt here was a lot to learn from each other. We planned to hold a joint session between the two Task Forces to share the experiences at one point. I truly admired his dedication and active participation to work towards Capacity Development in Africa. At the meeting in Berlin, he wrote me an encouraging note which I will cherish always.

His news came to me like a heavy blow and yet, I am more determined than ever to carry out the task of Capacity Development Initiative in Asia, in his honor. There will be experiences to share with our colleagues in Africa and we should be able to join forces in many areas. I believe that Abraham will bless us on these efforts and look upon us with his "big smile".

Emorn Wasantwisut, numdk@mahidol.ac.th
Mahidol University, Thailand

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At a time when I am still trying to absorb the loss of my close friend and colleague, Abraham Besrat., your brief paragraph [referring to Dines Bjorner's statement] caught the spirit of my inner thoughts,. I first met Abraham when he presented a paper at an ACC-SCN workshop at a time when he was Dean of the School of Graduate Studies of Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia I was so impressed that I offered him a senior UNU fellowship and he spent two years in the MIT International Food and Nutrition Program. There, he was much admired and highly regarded. In this period the political situation in Ethiopia had become difficult for him and he accepted a position as regional advisor in nutrition for FAO in Eastern Africa. He was very effective and greatly admired in the region..

When I served in Tokyo for a year as Vice Rector for the Development Studies Division, I was able to bring him from FAO to be the Fellowship and Training Officer for UNU. As you know he later became Vice Rector for the current Rector until his obligatory retirement because of the UN age limit. He had saved as much money as possible while with UNU in order to return to help his native country. This was a difficult decision since his wife's parents, who had spent most of their lives in Ethiopia, were expelled to their native Eritrea during the Ethiopian-Eritrean war and his wife could not return with him. Yet with his own funds he was enthusiastically supporting the introduction of high lysine maize into Ethiopia, returning periodically to visit his family..

He was one of the finest human beings I have ever known. His absolute integrity and objectivity were almost saintly and his good judgment and frankness, could always be depended upon. Even as Vice Rector, he remained modest and unassuming, I too found that all Ethiopian nutritional and agricultural scientists knew and admired him, and his name was always a recommendation and a basis for conversation with them

His death affects our common dream - funds to reestablish the original UNU Fellowship program with a special emphasis on Africa. In January we received a grant of a million dollars U.S. per year for five years from the Ellison Medical Research Foundation for this purpose, and he was responsible for the program in Africa and had just completed a series of site visits to select potential fellows. It was on this trip that his illness began, and he was not well during the SCN meetings in Berlin during the third week of March.

He will remain a model for all of us who knew him. We can aspire to be like him, but will inevitably fall short. As a former UNU fellow who is now a valued staff member of the Institute of Nutrition of Mahidol University in Bangok, E-mailed me, she cried at the news. All who knew him will echo this grief.

Nevin Scrimshaw, nevin@cyberportal.net
World Food Prize Laureate

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Dr. Abraham Besrat was a man and a human the memory of whom I shall cherish for years to come. Many were the kind and wise words of advice he gave me during frequent visits to the UNU HQ. What a stately man - and then so sad that he should pass away so early. I am sure that his beloved country shall miss his contributions. When, in the last 11 years my thoughts have touched Ethiopia, whenever since my first meeting with Abraham, I have met people from Ethiopia, I have, through the deep and fine, the gentle and determined character of Dr. Besrat always had a fine start on meeting Ethiopians - and they, on their part, were proud, as the right- fully should be, of counting Abraham as one of theirs.

My thoughts go to his wife and son - whom I met at their house in Tokyo on at least two occasions, and, she, the wife, at numerous UNU HQ events.

God bless the memory of Abraham and God Bless his family.

Dines Bjorner, db@imm.dtu.dk
Information & Mathematics Modelling, University of Denmark, Denmark

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Bad news. Very sorry to hear about the death of Abraham. It is a great loss.
Thank you for keeping us up to date.

Osman Galal, ogalal@ucla.edu
Secretary General, IUNS

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I received the sad news late last week of Abraham Besrat's death after a brief illness in his home in Ethiopia. Abraham was one of the nutrition world's most avid supporters of capacity development, both personally and through his service to the United Nations University as a vice-rector. He was a dear friend to many of us and will be missed.

Cutberto Garza, cg30@cornell.edu
Professor, Cornell University, USA

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How sad to lose such a committed advocate for capacity development. I will especially remember Abraham's contributions to the UNU/IUNS African Nutrition Capacity Development Initiative within the SCN working group. Hopefully, Abraham's dedication to the cause will inspire others of us to carry on with renewed commitment.

Barbara Underwood, bunderwo@nas.edu
Immediate Past President, IUNS

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It's hard to grasp - Abraham was so lively and engaged at the meeting, his passion for developing capacity so clear - I'll remember him that way.

Milla McLachlan, Mmclachlan@worldbank.org
Nutrition Advisor, The World Bank, USA
I am indeed saddened by this information. As you rightly pointed out, Abraham was so very active in the meeting, it is difficult to think that he is no longer with us. This is another blow to the nutrition aware community.

Olivia Yambi, oyambi@unicef.org
Regional Nutrition Advisor, UNICEF ESARO, Kenya

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This is unbelievable, I thought he just had a bad cold. I remember Lily [Marovatsanga] passing soon after the Geneva meeting. It reminds us, or should, that beyond the tensions at the SCN are a group of stalwarts whom we will cherish knowing all our lives. That's you, guys.

Joseph M. Hunt, jhunt@adb.org
Asian Development Bank

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With great sadness I have learned about the passing away of Abraham. We all remember him as a passionate friend highly dedicated for strengthening of nutritional institutions in developing countries and I agree with all colleagues and friends that the best thatwe could do is to continue his work he was committed to.

Rainer Gross, pnpgtz@attglobal.net
Chief, Nutrition Section, UNICEF, USA

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All of the Nutrition Section at UNICEF are still in shock from the news of the loss of such a good colleague who was so recently stimulating us to action. He will be missed at many levels. Rainer speaks for us all when he says the best memorial we could give is to continue his enthusiasm for what needs to be done to ensure better nutrition for every individual.

Miriam H. Labbok, mlabbok@unicef.org
Senior Advisor, UNICEF, USA

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This is indeed a great shock. Abraham was one of the most dedicated nutritionists that I had ever met. I remember he phoned me in my room at the Best Western hotel, the night before his departure just to wish me well and one thing he urged me to do is to keep up the good work of nutrition in Africa.

We shall miss him.

Emily Mwadime, concerne@eol.com.er
Program Officer, CONCERN, Eritrea

Dr. Walter Mertz, 79, who was Director of U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Human Nutrition Research Center, Beltsville Maryland, from 1972, until his retirement in 1993, died of lung cancer June 28 at his home in Rockville.

As a leading international authority on human nutrition, his advice was sought by numerous academic institutions, pretigious societies and governments; he was invited to make presentations at the Nobel Symposium in Sweden and the Royal Society of London. Dr. Mertz served as advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations and was Chairman of the Committee that issued worldwide recommendations for trace element nutriture of humans in 1996. His retirement seminar entitled "A Century of Research on Human Nutrition and Beyond" was broadcast several times by C-Span television and estimated to have been viewed by several million.

Dr. Mertz, born in Mainz, Germany, received an M.D in surgery from the University of Mainz in 1951. He came to the National Institutes of Health 1953 as a Research Fellow and co-discovered a nutritional role for the trace mineral, selenium, in 1957. Dr. Mertz then initiated independent research that led to his discovery that chromium was the essential nutrient the glucose tolerance factor. From 1961 to 1969, Dr. Mertz continued his research on chromium in clinical studies at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research as Chief, Department of Biological Chemistry. In 1969, he joined the Human Nutrition Research Division, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture as Chief of the Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Laboratory, which gained international recognition, prior to his appointment as Director the Human Nutrition Research Center, Beltsville Maryland in 1972.

From 1968 to 2000, he served on numerous Committees of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, including two terms as a member of the Food and Nutrition Board (1985-91). He was co-author of three editions of the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA's) and of the prestigious publication of the National Academy's "Diet, Nutrition and Cancer", one of the first reports to associate diet with human cancers. He was also an advisor to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, of the National Institutes of Health and the Surgeon General's Report on Nutrition and Health, 1988.

Dr. Mertz published over 200 research papers including contributions to several books: he was also editor of the two- volume text entitled "Trace Elements in Human and Animal Nutrition", recognized globally as the most authoritative on the subject. He served on numerous editorial boards and was Associate Editor of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, one of the most prestigous of nutrition journals.

In recognition of his many and significant contributions as an eminent nutritional scientist, he received many honors, appointments and awards both in the U.S. several foreign countries. He was elected by his peers as a Fellow of the Ameican Institute of Nutrition. Following his retirement, he was inducted into USDA-ARS's Hall of Fame "For contributions and leadership in elucidating the importance to health of several trace elements and promoting research on dietary risk factors for chronic disorders".

Survivors include his wife of 49 years, Dr. Marianne Mertz.

We wish to credit the Agricultural Research Service, USDA [USA] for permiting us to publish this information and to Peggy Greb [email:Peggy.Greg@nps.ars.usda.gov] for sharing the information with us. The death of Dr. Mertz was brought to our attention by Dr. Joan Conway [Email: conway@bhnrc.ars.usda.gov]

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Dr. Kilim Bayébinam Kézié

The Late Dr. Kilim Bayébinam Kézié

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