Günther Laukien (23 May 1923, in

Eschringen Eschringen is a German village in the diocese of Speyer. Since 1974 it has been a part of Saarbrücken. Religion Churches The main church of Eschringen is the Roman Catholic church "St. Laurentius" (Saint Lawrence). It was built between 1929 ...

(

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and t ...

) – 29 April 1997, in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the German States of Germany, state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital o ...

) was a German

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate ca ...

and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

. He is known for his pioneering work in

nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, most commonly known as NMR spectroscopy or magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), is a spectroscopic technique to observe local magnetic fields around atomic nuclei. The sample is placed in a magnetic fiel ...

and for his role in the

Bruker Bruker Corporation is an American manufacturer of scientific instruments for molecular and materials research, as well as for industrial and applied analysis. It is headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts, and is the publicly traded parent comp ...

company.

Early life

Laukien was born in 1924 in the

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 ...

village of

in the

. He finished

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in 1942 – during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

– and joined the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified '' Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mar ...

as a submarine engineer after his graduation. After the war ended in 1945, he studied

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which rel ...

at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...

, from which he received his

undergraduate degree An undergraduate degree (also called first degree or simply degree) is a colloquial term for an academic degree earned by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. In the United States, it is usually offered at an institution of higher ...

in 1951.

Academic career

In 1955 he graduated on the "experimental aspects of nuclear magnetic resonance" 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 wi ...

. This was done under professor

Hans Otto Kneser Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi ...

. He wrote his doctoral thesis on "Freie Präzession kernmagnetischer Momente" (''Free precession of nuclear magnetic moments''). His thesis already explored the techniques behind

, at a time when this was not developed yet. Only a couple of earlier papers had explored this subject, and Laukien was most likely unknown with those papers. After getting his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper ''Piled Higher and Deeper'' (also known as ''PhD Comics''), is a newsp ...

, he became "Oberassistent" and in 1957 he achieved

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including ...

. In 1958 he moved from Stuttgart to 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 ...

, where he became a

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". Professor ...

in 1960. In 1968 he became a life-time professor in electronics at

Ruhr University Bochum The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began in ...

In 1980 Günther Laukien received the ISMAR prize, which is awarded for outstanding achievement in the field of magnetic resonance. In 2013 he posthumously received the

Pittcon Heritage Award The Pittcon Heritage Award recognizes "outstanding individuals whose entrepreneurial careers shaped the instrumentation and laboratory supplies community." The award is jointly sponsored by the Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and A ...

for his contributions to the development of nuclear magnetic resonance and other analytical technologies.

Bruker

In 1960 he co-founded and soon chaired the

spectroscopy company (then named ''Bruker-Physik AG''), which was specialized in designing and using

electromagnets An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the magnetic field is produced by an electric current. Electromagnets usually consist of wire wound into a coil. A current through the wire creates a magnetic field which is concentrated in the ...

, with applications in

. Until his death, Laukien was actively involved in both research and business aspects of the company.

Personal life

Laukien left four sons who were all involved in

. Developing underwater equipment was one of his hobbies. He died in 1997 of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laukien, Gunther 1923 births 1997 deaths People from Saarbrücken (district) German company founders 20th-century German businesspeople