Rolf-Dieter Heuer (; born 24 May 1948 in

Boll Boll may refer to: *Boll (surname) *Scottish units#Dry volume, Boll, an obsolete Scottish measure of volume *BOLL, a protein in humans *7873 Böll, a main-belt asteroid *Boll case, a 1958 International Court of Justice case *Boll KG, Uwe Boll's p ...

) is a German

particle physicist Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of Elementary particle, fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standa ...

. From 2009 to 2015 he was

Director General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive (government), executive officer, often the chief executive offi ...

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...

and from 5 April 2016 to 9 April 2018 President of the German Physical Society (

Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft The German Physical Society (German: , DPG) is the oldest organisation of physicists. The DPG's worldwide membership is cited as 60,547, as of 2019, making it the largest physics society in the world. It holds an annual conference () and multiple ...

). Since 2015 he has been Chair of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

Group of Chief Scientific Advisors The Scientific Advice Mechanism is a service created by the European Commission which provides independent science advice directly to European Commissioners to inform their decision-making. The Mechanism consists of two parts: the Group of Chief ...

, and since May 2017 he has been President of the

SESAME Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cu ...

Council.

Biography

Heuer studied physics at the

University of Stuttgart The University of Stuttgart (german: Universität Stuttgart) is a leading research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany wit ...

. He then obtained his PhD 1977 at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

under Joachim Heintze for his study of neutral decay modes of the Ψ(3686). His post-doc studies include the

JADE Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...

experiment at the electron-positron storage ring

PETRA Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to t ...

DESY The Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (English ''German Electron Synchrotron''), commonly referred to by the abbreviation DESY, is a national research center in Germany. It operates particle accelerators used to investigate the structure of matt ...

, and from 1984, at the

OPAL experiment OPAL was one of the major experiments at CERN's Large Electron–Positron Collider. OPAL studied particles and their interactions by collecting and analysing electron-positron collisions. LEP was the largest particle accelerator in the world. The ...

, where he also became spokesperson of the OPAL collaboration for many years. Having been offered a full professorship for experimental physics at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vor ...

, Heuer returned to DESY in 1998. In 2004, he was appointed DESY's Research Director. In December 2007, the CERN research council announced that Heuer would become CERN's Director General starting 1 January 2009, succeeding

Robert Aymar Robert Aymar was the Director General of CERN (2004–2008), serving a five-year term in that role. Aymar was born in 1936 in France. After studying at the ''École Polytechnique'', Robert Aymar entered the ''Corps des Poudres'' (a former governm ...

. Since November 2015, Heuer has been a member of the

set up by the European Commission. In 2016 he became President of the

, and in May 2017 the President of the

Council. In 2022, Heuer was appointed a member of the African Synchrotron Initiative Think Tank in view to set up a Pan-African project for the African Light Source.

Awards

*On 15 June 2011, Heuer was awarded an honorary degree by the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...

. *On 19 July 2011, Heuer was awarded an honorary doctorate by the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

. In his speech to the graduands he spoke of the need to bring science into mainstream culture. *On 16 December 2011, Heuer was awarded an honorary degree by the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

. *On 13 June 2012, Heuer was awarded an honorary degree by the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. *On 12 November 2012, he was awarded an

Edison Volta Prize The Edison Volta Prize is awarded biennially by the European Physical Society (EPS) to individuals or groups of up to three people in recognition of outstanding achievements in physics. The award consists of a diploma, a medal, and 10,000 euros in ...

. *On 5 December 2013, he was awarded the

UNESCO Niels Bohr Medal The UNESCO Niels Bohr Medal was first minted in 1985 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Danish nuclear physicist Niels Bohr. It is awarded by UNESCO to recognise those who have made outstanding contributions to physics throug ...

. *In May 2015, he was awarded a Grand Cross 1st class of the German Order of Merit. *In September 2015, Heuer was awarded an honorary doctorate by the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-b ...

. *On 22 November 2016, Heuer was appointed a Knight of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

References

External links

Scientific publications of Rolf-Dieter Heuer
on

INSPIRE-HEP INSPIRE-HEP is an open access digital library for the field of high energy physics (HEP). It is the successor of the Stanford Physics Information Retrieval System (SPIRES) database, the main literature database for high energy physics since the 1970 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heuer, Rolf-Dieter 1948 births People associated with CERN 20th-century German physicists Living people Particle physicists UNESCO Niels Bohr Medal recipients Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur 21st-century German physicists Presidents of the German Physical Society

Biography

Awards

References

Further reading

External links