Reimar Lüst | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1923-03-25)25 March 1923 |
| Died | 31 March 2020(2020-03-31) (aged 97) |
| Alma mater | |
| Children | 2, includingDieter Lüst |
| Awards | |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astrophysics |
| Institutions | |
| Doctoral advisor | Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker |
Reimar Lüst (German:[ˈʁaɪmaʁˈlyːst]; 25 March 1923 – 31 March 2020)[1] was a Germanastrophysicist. He worked in European space science from its beginning, as the scientific director of theEuropean Space Research Organisation (ESRO) from 1962 and as Director General of theEuropean Space Agency (ESA) from 1984 until 1990.
Lüst taught internationally and influenced German politics as chairman of theWissenschaftsrat from 1969 to 1972. He was the president of the GermanMax Planck Society from 1972 to 1984. As chairman of the board ofJacobs University Bremen, he shaped the international school towards excellence. His awards include Officer of theLégion d’Honneur and the Grand Cross of theOrder of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Lüst was born on 25 March 1923 inBarmen (now part ofWuppertal) inNorth Rhine-Westphalia.[1] At age 10, he attended the Humanistisches Gymnasium inKassel, but his education was interrupted in 1941 by military service with the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) during World War II.[1] In the navy, he served as a lieutenant engineer onU-528.[2] He survived her sinking and was aprisoner-of-war in England and the U.S. from 1943 to 1946.[1] He began studies while imprisoned.[3]
After being released, Lüst returned to his education in 1946. He received his B.S. in physics from theUniversity of Frankfurt am Main in 1949 and his doctorate from theUniversity of Göttingen in 1951,[1] supervised byCarl Friedrich von Weizsäcker.[3] He was an assistant at theMax Planck Institute in Göttingen from 1951.[4] He was selected as aFulbright Fellow at theEnrico Fermi Institute of theUniversity of Chicago, and atPrinceton University in 1955/56.[4] He was a professor atNew York University, theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and theCalifornia Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena.[4] He is credited with contributions on the "origins of the planetary system, solar physics, the physics of cosmic rays, plasma physics, hydrodynamics and to the physics of nuclear fusion".[4]
Lüst was interested in European space science from the beginning on the "Commission préparatoire européenne de recherches spatiales" (COPERS). He began as Secretary of the Scientific and Technical Working Group and became Scientific Director of theEuropean Space Research Organisation (ESRO) in 1962, where he influenced the scientific programme until 1964. He was its vice president from 1968 to 1970. Lüst was chairman of theWissenschaftsrat, an advisory board for German national and state politics, from 1969 to 1972.[4] For ESRO, he was involved insounding rocket launches and with satellites for studies of theupper atmosphere and the planetary medium, directing experiments on the ESRO-IV, HEOS-A and COS-B satellites.[4]
Lüst was president of the GermanMax Planck Society from 1972 to 1984 and the third Director General of theEuropean Space Agency (ESA) from 1984 until 1990.[1][4] Afterwards, he served as president and later honorary president of theAlexander von Humboldt Foundation in Bonn, as a professor at theUniversity of Hamburg, and as chairman and, from 2005, honorary chairman of the board of the internationalJacobs University Bremen.[4]
Lüst was married toNina Grunenberg (1936–2017) and had two sons from his first marriage to Rhea Lüst. He died on 31 March 2020, days after his 97th birthday.[1]
Lüst received the AustrianWilhelm Exner Medal in 1987.[5] The planetoid 4836 was named "Lüst" after him. In 1995, he was awarded theAdenauer-de Gaulle Prize for French–German collaboration in 1994,[4] and the Weizman Award in the Sciences and Humanities, from theWeizmann Institute of Science, in 1995.[4][6] He was an Officer of theLégion d’Honneur and was awarded the Grand Cross of theOrder of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.[4]
During the 10th anniversary celebrations of Jacobs University Bremen, he was awarded the university's firsthonorary doctorate for his outstanding achievements in space research as well as his successes as a science manager. The award further recognized Lüst's key role in the planning and development at the university as chairman of the planning committee. Lüst was pivotal in shaping the unique profile of Jacobs University, which was rated among the best universities in Germany by the Center for Higher Education Development (CHE) at theBertelsmann Stiftung.[7]
| Preceded by | Director ofMax Planck Society 1972–1984 | Succeeded by |
