Wednesday, September 18th 2024, professor Mihai Ducea, teaching staff at the UB Faculty of Geology and Geophysics and coordinator of the Life Sciences, Environment and Earth Section at ICUB, he was elected Fellow of the renowned American Geophysical Union – AGU.
The distinction is granted as recognition for reaching excellence in research, education and communication and is all the more important as, such as Lisa Graumlich, president of the American Geophysical Union mentions, only 0,1% of its members (over 140 000) are chosen as Fellows.
The American Geophysical Union (AGU), the broadest professional organization of specialists in Earth and space sciences, annually grants this distinction for the exceptional activity of its members. In granting the distinction, a strong focus is placed on the remarkable contribution of the researcher in understanding the world we live in. More information on how these distinctions are granted and their relevance at international level are available here.

Professor Mihai Ducea is a researcher and teaching staff at the Faculty of Geology and Geophysics of the University of Bucharest. He is coordinator of the Life Sciences, Environment and Earth Section within the Research Institute of the University of Bucharest (ICUB).
He was a student of the Faculty of Geology and Geophysics of the University of Bucharest. After getting his Bachelor’s thesis in Geology, he continued his studies with a Master’s Degree at Duke University (USA) and at California Institute of Technology. He obtained his PhD in Geology at California Institute of Technology in 1998. After a short post-doctoral stage at Florida International University, in 2001 he became professor assistant at the University of Arizona, covering the entire academic pathway until becoming a professor, in 2009. Between 2017-2018 he was a Fullbright scholar and winner of the Dida scholarship of the University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China, 2016-2019. He is Fellow of the Geological Society of America since 2016 and chief-editor of the prestigious magazine Geological Society of America Bulletin (Q1) in 2022. He also leads the international division of the Geological Society of America since 2024.
In 2011 he became associate researcher of the University of Bucharest and, starting 2021, professor at the University of Bucharest. Currently, he teaches Geochronology, Tectonic petrology, Regional tectonic.
He conducted numerous research in the field of tectonics, magmatic petrology and isotopic geochemistry. He currently coordinates isotopic laboratories in both universities, Arizona and Bucharest. The petrochronology lab of the University of Bucharest (opened in 2023) has 10 employees and a team of researchers and top PhD students who approach problems with regard to fundamental research as well as that applied in the industry of resources.
He activated in the large mountain areas of the planet, such as the Andes, Himalayas and Tibet. He is one of the most cited geologists of all time (top 0.1%) and holds an h index of 72 (google scholar) for his more than 225 papers published since completing his PhD.
He is a correspondent member of the Romanian Academy since 2021.



