Stefan Hüfner (July 2, 1935, in Löwenberg,

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

– January 17, 2013, in

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

Saarland Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest 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 the smallest in ...

) was a German

experimental physicist Experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines in the field of physics that are concerned with the observation of physical phenomena and experiments. Methods vary from discipline to discipline, from simple experiments and o ...

specialized in

solid-state physics Solid-state physics is the study of rigid matter, or solids, through methods such as solid-state chemistry, quantum mechanics, crystallography, electromagnetism, and metallurgy. It is the largest branch of condensed matter physics. Solid-state phy ...

and

photoemission spectroscopy Photoemission spectroscopy (PES), also known as photoelectron spectroscopy, refers to energy measurement of electrons emitted from solids, gases or liquids by the photoelectric effect, in order to determine the binding energies of electrons in ...

Education and career

Hüfner studied mathematics and physics at the

Goethe University of Frankfurt Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

and the

Technical University of Darmstadt Technical may refer to: * Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle * Technical area, an area which a manager, other coaching personnel, and substitutes are allowed to occupy during a football match * Technical advisor, a person who ad ...

. After graduating from 1960 to 1966, he was a scientific assistant at the Institute for Technical Physics at the

TU Darmstadt Tu or TU may refer to: Language * Tu language * Tu (cuneiform), a cuneiform sign * ''tu'' or ''tú'' the 2nd-person singular subject pronoun in many languages; see personal pronoun * T–V distinction (from the Latin pronouns ''tu'' and ''vos'') ...

. In 1963 he received his doctorate there, supervised by Karl-Heinz Hellwege. In 1966 he obtained ''

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

'' in physics. He was a guest researcher at the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Established in 1868 by King Ludwig II ...

and at the

Bell Telephone Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Murray Hill, New Jersey, the compa ...

in Murray Hill, N.Y., USA. From 1967 to 1968 he was a ''

privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualifi ...

'' at the

and the doctoral supervisor of

Peter Grünberg Peter Andreas Grünberg (; 18 May 1939 – 7 April 2018) was a German physicist, and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate for his discovery with Albert Fert of giant magnetoresistance which brought about a breakthrough in gigabyte hard disk drive ...

, who was awarded the

Nobel Prize in Physics The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...

in 2007. In 1968 he received a call to the professorship for experimental physics at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

as the successor to Professor Gerhard Simonsohn. In 1975, Hüfner moved to the professorship for experimental physics at

Saarland University Saarland University (, ) is a public research university located in Saarbrücken, the capital of the German state of Saarland. It was founded in 1948 in Homburg in co-operation with France and is organized in six faculties that cover all major ...

. In 1994 he became founding speaker of the Collaborative Research Center "Interface-determined Materials". In 2001 he took over the office of university vice president for planning and strategy, which he held until the beginning of 2003. In September 2003 he retired.

Honors and awards

Hüfner was an emeritus member of the

advisory board An advisory board is a body that provides non-binding strategic advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation. The informal nature of an advisory board gives greater flexibility in structure and management compared to the ...

of the

Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics The Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik ("MPI for Nuclear Physics" or MPIK for short) is a research institute in Heidelberg, Germany. The institute is one of the 80 institutes of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (Max Planck Society), an independent, ...

in Heidelberg, the

Max Planck Institute for Physics The Max Planck Institute for Physics (MPP) is a research institute located in Garching, near Munich, Germany. It specializes in high energy physics and astroparticle physics. The MPP is part of the Max Planck Society and is also known as the We ...

in Munich, the

Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics The Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (, IPP) is a physics institute investigating the physical foundations of a fusion power plant. The IPP is an institute of the Max Planck Society, part of the European Atomic Energy Community, and an ...

in Greifswald and Munich and the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Munich and other advisory boards of the

Max Planck Society The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (; abbreviated MPG) is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes. Founded in 1911 as the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, it was renamed to the M ...

. Since 2004 he has been a member and chairman of the Technical Committee for Engineering Sciences of the Elite Network of Bavaria. In 2006/2007 he was a visiting professor at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

Vancouver, Canada Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The Me ...

. He received honorary doctorates from the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (; ) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the Collège Saint-Michel in the City of Fribourg ...

and the

Works

Hüfner authored the classic textbook on

, first published in 1995 and has gone through three editions in total. In addition to numerous scientific publications, Hüfner has also written several novels, including ''Der Tote von Dresden'' (Conte Verlag 2004, ) and ''Artikel eins. Ein Zukunftsroman'' (Conte Verlag 2006, ).

Bibliography

Textbooks and monographs

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Fictions

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Reviews

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References

External links

* Universität des Saarlandes
„Neuer Vizepräsident: Stefan Hüfner“
Januar 2001 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hufner, Stefan 2013 deaths 1935 births Academic staff of Saarland University Academic staff of the Free University of Berlin 20th-century German physicists German materials scientists German experimental physicists Condensed matter physicists Scientists at Bell Labs Goethe University Frankfurt alumni Technische Universität Darmstadt alumni Academic staff of Technische Universität Darmstadt People from Lwówek Śląski