In memoriam Prof. Dr. Karl-Herrmann Neumann (1936–2009)

Abstract

Prof. Dr. Karl-Herrmann Neumann passed away on October 13, 2009. He was born on a farm in Morgendorf near Leitmeritz, now part of the Czech Republic. In 1945, his family moved to Bernburg in Saxony-Anhalt, which later became part of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Following some problems he encountered with the communist administration, he moved to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1956 where he finished his schooling and entered Justus-Liebig-University Giessen to study agriculture. This included a 1-year mobility program in Copenhagen, Denmark majoring in agricultural chemistry. He graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture of the Justus-Liebig-University Giessen in 1960. That same year, he received a 1-year-scholarship from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, USA where he enrolled in their graduate program for 1 year majoring in botany and with minors in biochemistry and physical chemistry. At Cornell, he worked under the supervision of Prof. F.C. Steward focusing on the roles of micronutrients on growth and metabolism of carrot tissue cultures, and was highly inspired by Steward0s ideas and findings on totipotency of plant cells. Later, he returned back to Giessen and completed his PhD under the supervision of Prof. H. Linser, Institute of Plant Nutrition, Faculty of Agriculture in 1962. While working with both Prof. Steward and Prof. Linser, he became proficient in systemic thinking and engaged in multidisciplinary research approaches that subsequently greatly influenced his own scientific career. While pursuing his postdoctoral work with Prof. Linser, he completed his habilitation studies in 1968. During these years, he established one of the first plant cell and tissue culture laboratories in Germany. Among the first critical areas he dealt with was the development of an artificial nutrient medium of defined chemical composition as a replacement for White’s Basal Medium with coconut milk. In 1972, he became a Professor of Biochemistry and Prof. Dr. Karl-Herrmann Neumann