Dennis Meadows is engaged now in writing, speaking, and consulting on issues related to the 50th anniversary of his book, The Limits to Growth. He won the 2009 Japan Prize and numerous other international awards for his contributions to a sustainable future. As Professor of Systems Policy at the University of New Hampshire, he founded the Institute for Policy and Social Science Research in 1982 and directed it until his retirement. He has an earned PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and five honorary doctorates from universities in East and West Europe and the United States acknowledging his research and communication related to the dynamics of environmental systems. One of his ten books was translated into 35 languages and voted to among the ten most important environmental texts in the 20th century. He earned university degrees in chemistry and management; he sat on the management boards of The US Electric Power Research Institute and several high-technology startups. He won Germany’s Konrad Lorenz Prize in 1975. 

Helga Kromp-Kolb won the 2005 award, Austria’s Scientist of the Year. As Professor of Meteorology and Climatology at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), she founded the “Center for Global Change and Sustainability” in 2010 and directed it until her retirement.

She has served, among other things, as chairwoman of the Forum for Atomic Questions, member of the Expert Advisory Board of the Climate and Energy Fund, and scientific advisor at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. She helped establish the Climate Change Center Austria (CCCA), a network of climate research institutions in Austria. It is the central contact point for research, politics, media and the public for all questions relating to climate research in Austria. She won Germany’s Konrad Lorenz Prize in 1991.