The International Aeronautical Federation (IAF) honored Elliott School and Space Policy Institute Research Professor of Space Policy and International Affairs Pascale Ehrenfreund with the 2025 IAF Excellence in International Cooperation Award. IAF presents the award annually to an individual who has demonstrated excellence in their efforts to promote and facilitate global engagement and cooperation in the space sector. There is no doubt Dr. Ehrenfreund is a worthy awardee. Throughout her career, she has made outsized contributions to advancing international cooperation in the fields of space science, space technology, and space policy.
In addition to her role at the Elliott School, Ehrenfreund is the President of the Committee of Space Research (COSPAR) and she serves on the Board of Directors of the Space Foundation and as Member of the Global Future Council on Space of the World Economic Forum. For three decades she contributed as Principal Investigator, Co-Investigator and Teamleader to ESA and NASA astronomy and planetary missions as well as experiments in low Earth orbit and on the International Space Station. Pascale Ehrenfreund was the President of the International Space University (2021-2023), the President International Astronautical Federation (2019-2022), the Chair of the Executive Board of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) (2015-2020) and the President of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) (2013-2015). Pascale Ehrenfreund is enlisted in the Stanford World Ranking Top 2% Scientists 2022 and holds a Master degree in Molecular Biology, a PhD in Astrophysics, and a Master degree in Management & Leadership. The asteroid "9826 Ehrenfreund 2114 T-3" bears her name.