Professor Chezlav Druet from Poland, as the General Director of the Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, was involved in the activities of the IOC since 1975. In 1978 he became an IOC Vice-chairman and acted also as a Chairman of the Scientific Review Board of the IOC/UNESCO. He was involved in organizing and developing marine science in the Baltic sea region and contributed to the establishment of GOOS.