Helmut Schwarz (born 6 August 1943) is a German

organic chemist Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, J. ...

. He has been a professor of chemistry at the

Technische Universität Berlin The Technical University of Berlin (official name both in English and german: link=no, Technische Universität Berlin, also known as TU Berlin and Berlin Institute of Technology) is a public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was ...

since 1978. In 2018, he was elected a foreign associate of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

Career

Helmut Schwarz first learned to be a chemical technician and then went on to study chemistry at the

TU Berlin The Technical University of Berlin (official name both in English and german: link=no, Technische Universität Berlin, also known as TU Berlin and Berlin Institute of Technology) is a public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It wa ...

. He completed his studies in 1971 and obtained his PhD in 1972 and his Habilitation in 1974 under Ferdinand Bohlmann. He pursued post-doctoral work at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(MIT) and in the UK, after which he became a professor at the TU Berlin in 1978. Schwarz studies chemical reactions, specifically gas phase chemistry of ionic and radical organic species. He is furthermore working on advancing the analytical capabilities of mass spectrometry. He was president of the

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (german: Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung) is a foundation established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany and funded by the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry of Education and Rese ...

from 2008 to 2018. From 2010 to 2015 he was president of the German Academy of Researchers Leopoldina and he is a member of

acatech Acatech (styled ''acatech),'' founded in 2002 and established as the German Academy of Science and Engineering (german: Deutsche Akademie der Technikwissenschaften) on 1 January 2008, represents the interests of German technical sciences independe ...

Honors and memberships

Schwarz was an editor of the

International Journal of Mass Spectrometry The ''International Journal of Mass Spectrometry'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of mass spectrometry, including instrumentation and applications in biology, chemistry, geology, and physics. It was establish ...

from 1983 to 2010 and between 1990 and 1994 he was editor of Chemischen Berichte. He was part of the editorial board of

Mass Spectrometry Reviews ''Mass Spectrometry Reviews'' (usually abbreviated as ''Mass Spectrom. Rev.''), is a peer-reviewed scientific journal, published since 1982 by John Wiley & Sons. It publishes reviews in selected topics of mass spectrometry and associated scien ...

from 1990 to 2003, of

Helvetica Chimica Acta ''Helvetica Chimica Acta'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of chemistry established by the Swiss Chemical Society. It is published online by John Wiley & Sons. The journal has a 2020 impact factor of 2.164. History *August 6, 1901: Founding o ...

(1990 to 2002), and of the

Journal of the American Chemical Society The ''Journal of the American Chemical Society'' is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1879 by the American Chemical Society. The journal has absorbed two other publications in its history, the ''Journal of Analytic ...

(2007 to 2015). He is a member of the following societies * National Academy of Sciences (since 2018) *

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

(since 2012) *

Estonian Academy of Sciences Founded in 1938, the Estonian Academy of Sciences ( et, Eesti Teaduste Akadeemia) is Estonia's national academy of science in Tallinn. As with other national academies, it is an independent group of well-known scientists whose stated aim is to ...

(since 2002) *

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of Humanities, Letters, Law, and Sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europea ...

(since 1997) *

Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Göttingen Academy of Sciences (german: Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen)Note that the German ''Wissenschaft'' has a wider meaning than the English "Science", and includes Social sciences and Humanities. is the second oldest of the se ...

(since 1997) *

Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (german: Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften), abbreviated BBAW, is the official academic society for the natural sciences and humanities for the German states of Berlin a ...

(since 1992) *

German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded ...

(since 1992) * (since 1991) He has received numerous awards and honors, among them * Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star (2018) *

ENI award The Eni Award is a prize awarded by the Italian oil and gas company Eni with the aim of encouraging better use of energy sources and increased environmental research. The strict award guidelines and the notable names on the selection committee (in ...

(2015) * (2015) * Schrödinger Medal from the ''World Association of Theoretical and Computational Chemists'' (WATOC, 2015) *

Lichtenberg Medal The Lichtenberg Medal (German: Lichtenberg-Medaille) is the highest award of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities. It was established in memory of the Göttingen scholar Georg Christoph Lichtenberg. It has been awarded since 2004 (eve ...

(2012) *

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

(2012) * Erwin Schrödinger Medal (2008) *

Otto Hahn Prize The Otto Hahn Prize is awarded biennially jointly by the Society of German Chemists (), the German Physical Society () and the city of Frankfurt am Main for outstanding achievement in the field of chemistry, physics or applied engineering science. ...

(2003) * Prelog Medal, ETH Zürich (2000) *

Liebig Medal The Liebig Medal (German: ''Liebig-Denkmünze'') was established by the (''Verein Deutscher Chemiker'') in 1903 to celebrate the centenary of Justus von Liebig. Since 1946 it has been awarded by the Society of German Chemists (''Gesellschaft Deut ...

(1998) * Max-Planck-Forschungspreis (1991, with Chava Lifshitz) * Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (1990) *

Otto Bayer Award Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded ...

(1989) * Otto-Klung-Weberbank-Preis (1980)

Personal life

In April 2023, Schwarz was one of the 22 personal guests at the ceremony in which former Chancellor

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...

was decorated with the

Grand Cross of the Order of Merit Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and co ...

for special achievement by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Frank-Walter Steinmeier Frank-Walter Steinmeier (; born 5 January 1956) is a German politician serving as President of Germany since 19 March 2017. He was previously Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2017, as well as Vice Chan ...

Schloss Bellevue Bellevue Palace (german: Schloss Bellevue, ), located in Berlin's Tiergarten district, has been the official residence of the President of Germany since 1994. The schloss is situated on the banks of the Spree river, near the Berlin Victory Col ...

in Berlin.Miriam Rathje (17 April 2023)
Ohne Merz, aber mit Klinsmann: Das ist die Gästeliste für Angela Merkels Ordensverleihung
''

Der Tagesspiegel ''Der Tagesspiegel'' (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington D.C. and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, ...

''.

References

External links

Helmut Schwarz
publications indexed by

Scopus Scopus is Elsevier's abstract and citation database launched in 2004. Scopus covers nearly 36,377 titles (22,794 active titles and 13,583 inactive titles) from approximately 11,678 publishers, of which 34,346 are peer-reviewed journals in top-l ...

Website
at the

. 1943 births Living people 21st-century German chemists Organic chemists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Members of Academia Europaea Members of the Estonian Academy of Sciences Members of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners Schrödinger Medal recipients Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class Computational chemists Thomson Medal recipients Studienstiftung alumni Mass spectrometrists 20th-century German chemists Technical University of Berlin alumni Academic staff of the Technical University of Berlin {{Germany-chemist-stub