Heino Finkelmann (born 1945, Gronau) is a retired

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 **Ger ...

chemist in the area of liquid-crystalline

elastomer An elastomer is a polymer with viscoelasticity (i.e. both viscosity and elasticity) and with weak intermolecular forces, generally low Young's modulus and high failure strain compared with other materials. The term, a portmanteau of ''elastic p ...

Biography

After earning an engineering degree, Finkelmann graduated 1972 as chemist (Diplom) from Technische Universität Berlin. 1975 he earned his PhD at the Paderborn University under the supervision of Horst Stegemeyer in Physical Chemistry. After three years of Postdoc under the guidance of

Helmut Ringsdorf Helmut Ringsdorf (30 July 1929 – 20 March 2023) was a German polymer chemist. His work promoted cross-disciplinary discussions and collaborations in the field of polymer chemistry, biology, physics and medicine. Ringsdorf's major research w ...

at the

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 stu ...

, Finkelmann habilitated from 1978 to 1984 at the Clausthal University of Technology with the group of Günther Rehage in Physical Chemistry. From 1984 to 2010 Finkelmann was appointed Full Professor and Director of the Institute for Macromolecular Chemistry at the

Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württem ...

. One of his famous works is the concept of the side chain nematic elastomers.

Honours, decorations, awards and distinctions

* 1984: Carl Duisberg Memorial Prize from the

Society of German Chemists The German Chemical Society (German: ', GDCh) is a learned society and professional association founded in 1949 to represent the interests of German chemists in local, national and international contexts. GDCh "brings together people working in che ...

* 2000:

Gay-Lussac Humboldt Prize Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac (, , ; 6 December 1778 – 9 May 1850) was a French chemist and physicist. He is known mostly for his discovery that water is made of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen (with Alexander von Humboldt), for two laws ...

* 2003: Agilent Technologies Europhysics Prize of the European Physical Society * 2004: Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Toulouse * 2006: George William Gray Medal of the

British Liquid Crystal Society The British Liquid Crystal Society (BLCS) is a charitable trust established to promote education and research on liquid crystals in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United ...

References

1945 births Living people 20th-century German chemists German organic chemists Polymer scientists and engineers Academic staff of the University of Freiburg Scientists from Lower Saxony People from Hildesheim (district) 21st-century German chemists Technische Universität Berlin alumni Academic staff of the Clausthal University of Technology {{Germany-chemist-stub