Professor Dr. Ing. Dr. h.c. Jan Thesing, Darmstadt, Germany, passed away on April 27, 2018.

Jan Thesing, born in Darmstadt, Germany, May 15, 1924, studied chemistry at the Technische Hochschule (TH) Darmstadt and received his Ph.D. in 1952 under the guidance of Clemens Schopf. He stayed at TH Darmstadt and completed his habilitation in 1955. After beginning his independent career, he specialized in indole chemistry. In 1958, he joined E. Merck AG, Darmstadt, Germany, as Head of the Research. In 1966, he became Deputy Chairman of the Board of E. Merck OHG and in 1972 he was appointed Vice Chairman (pharmaceutical research, development, and production) of the board of E. Merck.

Jan Thesing has held numerous honorary positions including CEO of the Engere Kuratorium of the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie (FCI; Chemical Industry Fund) from 1981–1086, and President of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh; German Chemical Society) from 1986–1987.

He was particularly interested in the training of chemistry students at university and in school. The GDCh section Chemistry Education owes him a lot of suggestions, including the Friedrich Stromeyer Prize, which was founded on his initiative. The prize recognizes teachers who have achieved outstanding achievements in the field of chemistry education in schools.

For his special achievements in the promotion of chemistry and the GDCh, the GDCh awarded Jan Thesing the Carl Duisberg prize in 1989.

Selected publications by Jan Thesing

• Trendumkehr in der Arzneimittelforschung,
  Jan Thesing,
  Naturwissenschaften 1977, 64, 601–605.
  DOI: 10.1007/BF00440091
• Beiträge zur Chemie des Indols, XIII²⁾ Eine neue Synthese 5- und 7-substituierter Indole³⁾
  Jan Thesing, Günther Mohr, Günther Semler,
  Chem. Ber. 1962, 95, 2205–2211.
  DOI: 10.1002/cber.19620950917
• Darstellung von N-disubstituierten Hydroxylaminen durch Mannich-Reaktionen,
  Jan Thesing, Herbert Uhrig, Alfred Müller,
  Angew. Chem. 1955, 67, 31–32.
  DOI: 10.1002/ange.19550670107