Abegaz was Exec. Dir. of African Acad. of Sciences (2011-2017). He has contributed to the development of the Acad. by securing recognition by the African Union and NEPAD and steep increase of the fellows. Under his leadership and partnerships with global funders, AESA, the alliance for accelerating excellence in science in Africa has been established. He's been promoting South-South cooperation and is the co-founder of highly successful networks: Natural Product Research Network for Eastern and Central Africa (NAPRECA), Network for Analytical and Bioassay Services in Africa (NABSA), and pan-African Natural Products Library (p-ANPL). Abegaz served as Chair of UNESCO Science Board, the CSPR of ICSU, as sen. Advisor to IOCD, IFS, etc. He has also received a number of awards, the IFS-DANIDA award, the Pierre Crabbe Award and the CNR Rao Award. He is elected fellow of TWAS, AAS and EAS.

Clegg's research in evolutionary genetics combines statistical analyses with modern molecular techniques. Major accomplishments include characterizing the dynamics of linkage disequilibrium in plant and animal populations, showing that plant chloroplast gene evolve slowly, pioneering the use of DNA sequence data in plant phylogenetic inference and using molecular data in the study of crop domestication. He is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences; the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. He has been awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship, Darwin Prize from Edinburgh University and the Award of Distinction from UC Davis, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Narayan is the Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences at Harvard Univ., U.S.A. He obtained his PhD in 1979 at Bangalore Univ., India. He has made numerous contributions in many areas of astrophysics, notably in the field of black holes. His work spans theory, observations, and numerical simulations. His membership includes: Royal Society (London); National Academy of Sciences (USA); American Association for the Advancement of Science; and Honorary Fellowship of the Indian Academy of Sciences.