Alexander Jakob Boris Zehnder (born 21 February 1946) is a Swiss microbiologist. He spent most of his career as professor of microbiology at

Wageningen University & Research Wageningen University & Research (also known as Wageningen UR; abbreviation: WUR) is a public university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in life sciences with a focus on agriculture, technical and engineering subjects. It is a globally ...

(1982–1992) and later as professor of environmental biotechnology at

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , ac ...

(1992–2004). Zehnder also was director of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology during this latter period. From 2004 until 2008 he was President of the ETH Board.

Career

Zehnder was born on 21 February 1946 in

Goldach Goldach is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rorschach in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Goldach is first mentioned in 789 as ''Goldaha'', though this comes from a later copy of the original document. In 8 ...

. He studied natural sciences at

where he graduated in 1971. Zehnder subsequently moved to

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

, Morocco, where he worked as a consultant for the World Health Organization until 1973. Back in Switzerland Zehnder obtained his PhD in microbiology from ETH Zurich in 1976. During his PhD work Zehnder managed to discover and isolate ''

Methanothrix soehngenii ''Methanothrix soehngenii'' is a species of methanogenic archaea. Its cells are non-motile, non- spore-forming, rod-shaped (0.8×2 μm) and are normally combined end to end in long filaments, surrounded by a sheath-like structure. It is named i ...

'', which fellow microbiologist Willem Meindert de Vos described as a major discovery. He subsequently spent two years in the United States as a research associate in the bacteriology department at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Zehnder then moved to

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

where he was employed as assistant professor in the department of civil engineering. In 1982 Zehnder was appointed professor of microbiology at

in the Netherlands. He also became head of the Institute of Microbiology. During his period the research at the university became more focused on anaerobic and environmental microbiology. There was studies performed on microbial phosphate removal and biofilm formation. In 1992 he became both director of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology and professor of environmental biotechnology at ETH Zurich. He held positions until 2004. In May 2008 Zehnder formally retired. From July 2004 until December 2008 he was president of the ETH Board. During this period he aimed to bolster the international reputation of the institution. He received critical reviews, being described as "a nice person in the wrong place". From 2008 until 2010 he also served as scientific director of the Alberta Water Research Institute. From 2011 he served as visiting professor to

Nanyang Technological University The Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is a national research university in Singapore. It is the second oldest autonomous university in the country and is considered as one of the most prestigious universities in the world by various inte ...

in Singapore. Zehnder's fields of expertise include water, in both qualitative and quantitative aspects and the relation between water and food security.

Water shortages Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity: physical or economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity is wher ...

in relation to climate change has been a main topic for him. During his career he published more than 250 papers and supervised more than 80 PhD students.

Awards and honours

Zehnder was elected a member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

in 1990. In 1999 he was elected a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Zehnder also became member of the

Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places *Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss International ...

in 1999. Zehnder was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Cross of Merit 1st Class) in 2010. Singapore awarded Zehnder the Pingat Bakti Masyarakat in 2017. In 2019 he was elected a member of the Academia Europaea.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zehnder, Alexander 1946 births Living people Academic staff of ETH Zurich ETH Zurich alumni Foreign Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Members of Academia Europaea Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany People from the canton of St. Gallen Recipients of the Pingat Bakti Masyarakat Stanford University faculty Swiss microbiologists World Health Organization officials