October 8, 2012
Gill wins China's highest award
Bikram Gill, university distinguished professor of plant pathology and director of the Wheat Genetic and Genomic Resources Center, was awarded The Friendship Award by the People's Republic of China on Oct. 1. This is their highest award for foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to the country's economic and social progress.
The award was established in the 1950s when it was awarded to experts from the former Soviet Union and East European countries by the then premier Zhou Enlai and the foreign minister Chen Yi.
The winners are selected by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, or SAFEA, under the State Council. The award is conferred as part of the celebrations for the National Day of the People's Republic of China, which is Oct. 1..
The award consist of a medal and an award certificate. The medal is decorated with a picture of the Great Wall on the obverse along with the inscription "Friendship Award" in Chinese, 友谊奖, on the top and in English on the bottom.
The Chinese television coverage of the event can be found at news.cntv.cn/program/xwlb/20120929/104853.shtml.