Under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Tunisia, Mr Beji Caid Essebsi, the Day of the Sciences was celebrated on July 21st 2017 in Carthage (Tunis). On this occasion, a renowned scientist from Dresden, Professor Dr.-Ing. habil. Dipl.-Wirt. Ing. Chokri Cherif was awarded the Cross of Merit of the Republic of Tunisia by the Tunisian President for his outstanding achievements abroad. For the first time, this award has been given to a Tunisian living abroad.

Since 1985 in Germany

Professor Cherif came to RWTH Aachen in 1985 with a government scholarship to study mechanical engineering. In 1993, he was honored as best Tunisian graduate abroad by former resident Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali; he had won against excellent competitors from, e.g., USA, Canada and France. In 1995, Chokri Cherif additionally achieved a degree in economics, followed by his PhD in 1998 and his habilitation in 2001. Mr. Cherif held a managerial position at a Swiss corporation in Ingolstadt (Germany) from 2001-2005.

Since 2005 at the TU Dresden

In 2005, he accepted the professorship at the Technical University Dresden, assumed the Chair of Textile Technology, and became head of the Institute of Textile Machinery and High Performance Material Technology (ITM). Within the past 12 years, Professor Cherif successfully advanced the ITM to become a thriving institute with currently 240 employees. He has been responsible, inter alia, for more than 1500 publications, 230 patents and 72 national as well as international awards. It has been a particular highlight for him to receive the Future Prize of the German President for Innovation and Technology on November 30th 2016 in Berlin. Moreover, Professor Cherif is a DFG review board member, chairman of the AiF expert group 5, member of the DFG scientific council, etc. Professor Cherif is globally networked in research and economy, and plays a key role in numerous committees.