Honors for Chemist Prof. Dr. Hans-Ulrich Reißig
German Chemical Society Honors Reißig for Outstanding Research in Synthetic Organic Chemistry
№ 315/2014 from Sep 15, 2014
The Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker, the German Chemical Society (GDCh, honored Professor Hans-Ulrich Reißig from Freie Universität Berlin for his life's work. In an award ceremony on Monday in Mainz, Reißig was given a Liebig Medal in recognition of his outstanding research in organic synthesis chemistry. The GDCh honored both Reißig's commitment and his services in science management. The Liebig Medal, which enjoys international prestige, was first awarded in 1903. So far 66 medals have been awarded and the winners include numerous Nobel Prize laureates, including Adolf von Baeyer, Paul Ehrlich, Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, Max Planck, Friedrich Bergius, Hans Fischer, Feodor Lynen, Karl Ziegler, and Gerhard Ertl. The medal was presented at the 128th session meeting of the Society of German Natural Scientists and Physicians (Gesellschaft Deutscher Naturforscher und Ärzte, GDNÄ).
The GDCh emphasized that Hans-Ulrich Reißig, with more than 400 scientific publications, was very influential in method development. In addition to his great knowledge and understanding of chemistry, he is very involved in the scientific community. He has received numerous academic awards in the past and is a member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, one of the oldest and largest scientific academies in Germany.
Reißig was born in 1949 in the Bavarian town of Helmbrechts. He majored in chemistry at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich and earned his doctorate there in 1978 with a thesis on the cycloaddition of diazoalkanes. His doctoral advisor was Rolf Huisgen. Following a period as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Reißig completed the habilitation process in organic chemistry in 1984 at Julius-Maximilians-Universität in Wurzburg. He held professorships at TU Darmstadt and TU Dresden before being appointed a professor of chemistry at Freie Universität Berlin in 2009. At Freie Universität he was the dean of the Department of Biology, Chemistry, and Pharmacy from 2011 to 2014. In addition, he was in the past and continues to be active in committees of the German Research Foundation and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Since 2012 Reißig has also been a member of the Board of the Liebig Association of the GDCh. As the chair of the selection committee for the Klung Wilhelmy Science Award in the category of chemistry, Reißig has been involved in choosing young scientists for special recognition since 2004.
With approximately 31,000 members, the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker is one of the largest scientific societies worldwide.
Further Information
Hans-Ulrich Reissig, Professor of Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin, Tel.: +49 30 838-55366, Email: hans.reissig@chemie.fu-berlin.de