Professor Helmut Schwarz, Technical University of Berlin, Germany, will serve another five-year term as President of the Humboldt Foundation. The Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Guido Westerwelle, permitted the re-appointment following a unanimous proposal by the Board of Trustees in May of this year. The new office commences on 1 January 2013 and runs until 31 December 2017. Schwarz is the sixth president since the inception of the Foundation in 1953.
Helmut Schwarz has been President of the Humboldt Foundation since January 2008. He studied chemistry at the Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin). There he earned his doctorate in 1972 and his Habilitation in 1974. Four years later, Schwarz was appointed professor of theory and practice of mass spectrometry at the TU Berlin. Since 1983 he has been Professor of Organic Chemistry there.
His research centers on chemistry in the gas phase and combines experimental studies with theoretical methods. Recently, he has focused on selective bond activation in organic molecules by transition-metal species and the mapping of potential energy surfaces by locating and characterizing minima and transition states to elucidate observed reaction pathways and mechanisms.
Helmut Schwarz has published more than 900 scientific articles, is editor of several journals, and holds five honorary doctorates. He has received numerous awards, including the Bundesverdienstkreuz 1. Klasse (Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany).
Also of interest:
- H. Schwarz Awarded Order of Merit
Helmut Schwarz, Technical University of Berlin, presented with the highest tribute the Federal Republic of Germany can pay to an individual - Fundamental Research Needs Excellent Scientists and its Own Space,
Jonathan Faiz,
ChemViews Magazine December 2011.
Helmut Schwarz and Daniela Kneißl outline the requirements for excellent fundamental research
Selected recent publications by Helmut Schwarz:
- Thermal Reactions of YAlO3+• with Methane: Increasing the Reactivity of Y2O3+• and the Selectivity of Al2O3+• by Doping,
Jia-Bi Ma, Zhe-Chen Wang, Maria Schlangen, Sheng-Gui He, Helmut Schwarz,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51(24), 5991–5994.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201201698 - Direct Conversion of Methane into Formaldehyde Mediated by [Al2O3]•+ at Room Temperature,
Zhe-Chen Wang, Nicolas Dietl, Robert Kretschmer, Jia-Bi Ma, Thomas Weiske, Maria Schlangen, Helmut Schwarz,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51(15), 3703–3707.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201200015 - Thermal Ammonia Activation by Cationic Transition-Metal Hydrides of the First Row – Small but Mighty,
Robert Kretschmer, Maria Schlangen, Helmut Schwarz,
Chem. Asian J. 2012, 7(6), 1214–1220.
DOI: 10.1002/asia.201101045
