Hans-Georg Wenzel (3 February, 1945 – 11 November, 1999), also known as George Wenzel, was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

geodesist Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), orientation in space, and gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properties change over time and equival ...

, geophysicist and

university lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct res ...

. His most important field of work was physical geodesy, where he worked after his dissertation on

earth tides Earth tide (also known as solid Earth tide, crustal tide, body tide, bodily tide or land tide) is the displacement of the solid earth's surface caused by the gravity of the Moon and Sun. Its main component has meter-level amplitude at periods of a ...

with geophysical measurements up to global models of the earth

gravity field In physics, a gravitational field is a model used to explain the influences that a massive body extends into the space around itself, producing a force on another massive body. Thus, a gravitational field is used to explain gravitational phenome ...

Life and career

Hans-Georg Wenzel was born on 3 February 1945 in

Hahnenklee Hahnenklee is a borough of the city of Goslar, in the German state of the Lower Saxony. It is located within the Harz mountain range between Goslar and Osterode. The population is about 1200 inhabitants. History Hahnenklee became a state-rec ...

-Bockswiese. From 1962 to 1964 Wenzel trained as a surveying technician. Until 1967 he studied surveying at the Staatliche Ingenieurschule für Bauwesen in Essen and at the Technische Hochschule Hannover, which he graduated in 1972 with a

Dipl.-Ing. A ''Diplom'' (, from grc, δίπλωμα ''diploma'') is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Albania, Bulgaria, Belaru ...

degree. He then worked at the Institute for Geodesy at Leibniz University Hannover, first as a scientific assistant, later as a scientific assistant, chief engineer and finally as an academic councilor. In 1985 he habilitated with his thesis ''Hochauflösende Kugelfunktionsmodelle für das Gravitationspotential der Erde'' (''High Resolution Spherical Harmonic Models for the Gravitational Potential of the Earth''). In 1988 he was appointed

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

Gravimetry Gravimetry is the measurement of the strength of a gravitational field. Gravimetry may be used when either the magnitude of a gravitational field or the properties of matter responsible for its creation are of interest. Units of measurement G ...

and

Geodynamics Geodynamics is a subfield of geophysics dealing with dynamics of the Earth. It applies physics, chemistry and mathematics to the understanding of how mantle convection leads to plate tectonics and geologic phenomena such as seafloor spreading, mo ...

at the Geodetic Institute of the

University of Karlsruhe The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; german: Karlsruher Institut für Technologie) is a public research university in Karlsruhe, Germany. The institute is a national research center of the Helmholtz Association. KIT was created in 2009 w ...

and Director of the Geophysical Observatory in

Schiltach Schiltach is a town in the district of Rottweil, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in the eastern Black Forest, on the river Kinzig, 20 km south of Freudenstadt. Geography Schiltach lies on the eastern side of the Black Forest ...

in the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

. Since 1987, Wenzel has been a member of the board of the

International Association of Geodesy The International Association of Geodesy (IAG) is a constituent association of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics. Overview The precursors to the IAG were arc measurement campaigns. The IAG was founded in 1862 as the ''Mitteleuro ...

, whose sections he chaired from 1991 to 1995 and from 1995 to 1999 as president of the ''International Earthtime Commission''. From 1987 to 1995 he also served on the boards of the ''International Gravimetric Bureau'' and, since 1996, the ''Federation of the Astronomical and Geophysical Data and Analysis Services'' (FAGS). On 1 March, 1999, Wenzel was appointed to succeed Wolfgang Torge as professor at the University of Hannover. Shortly after his appointment he left life unexpectedly in November 1999 in

Wennigsen Wennigsen is a municipality in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the Deister hills, approx. 15 km southwest of Hanover. Geography Wennigsen borders on (from north and clockwise) Gehrden, Ronnenberg, Spr ...

Honours

For many years Wenzel was well known in geodesy, especially for his groundbreaking spherical harmonic models. They made an important contribution to geophysics and geodynamics, but also to regional and global geoid determination. In his research career, Wenzel published more than 150 publications on global tidal research, gravity field research and geodynamics. In May 2000, the Earth Tide Commission awarded Hans-Georg Wenzel the ETC Medal Award posthumously.

Selected Publication

* * (Report on the results of the SEASAT-A-Nordsee-Projekt excursion). * * * * . * * * * * *

Editorials

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wenzel, Hans-Georg 1945 births 1999 deaths Scientists from Lower Saxony German geodesists People from Goslar (district) University of Hanover faculty