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Page 1: To Professor Dr. Karlheinz Ballschmiter on his 60th birthday

This special issue of the Fresenius’ Journal of AnalyticalChemistry is dedicated to Prof. Dr. Karlheinz Ball-schmiter on the occasion of his 60th birthday. The inter-national community of Analytical Chemistry congratu-lates Prof. Ballschmiter and wishes him all the best in thefuture, for personal contentment as well as further successin his scientific work. In addition, the authors of this spe-cial issue would like to honor him by publications whichdeal with topics he was always engaged or interested induring his scientific career.

Karlheinz Ballschmiter was born on May 20, 1937, inPetershagen/Pommern. He attended school in Tempelburg/Pommern, Oster-Ohrstedt/Schleswig-Holstein and Siegen/Westfalen. After he completed his Abitur at the “StädtischeGymnasien” in Siegen he started his studies in Chemistryat the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in 1957.During his studies he was scholarship holder of the “Stu-dienstiftung des deutschen Volkes” which only supportshighly talented students in Germany.

After his Diploma in Chemistry in 1963 he started withhis PhD thesis work in the group of Prof. Günther Tölg atthe University of Mainz, where he graduated in 1966 withinvestigations entitled “Metabolism of the insecticide thio-dane”. During the following five years he was assistant inthe Institute of Inorganic Chemistry and Nuclear Chem-istry at the University of Mainz and, in addition, he wasalso abroad as a research scientist at the Argonne NationalLaboratory, Chicago, during the period 1967 to 1969.During his time in Mainz he was also inspired by the ana-lytical work of R. Bock, who was Professor in AnalyticalChemistry at the University of Mainz. In 1971 he com-pleted his habilitation in Analytical Chemistry with awork on “Chelates for inorganic micro and trace analyses”at the same university.

In 1973, Karlheinz Ballschmiter moved from Mainz tothe University of Ulm where he became Professor of Ana-lytical Chemistry. Under his leadership the activities inAnalytical Chemistry at the University of Ulm continu-ously developed into one of the leading sections in this

field at European universities. The group of Prof. Ball-schmiter is known worldwide for its environmental inves-tigations in the trace analysis of organic substances athighest scientific level. The global distribution of envi-ronmentally relevant chemicals and the accurate determi-nation of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls, includ-ing the formation of these toxic substances, are some ofthe top goals in this broad concert of analytical researchwork. For these research activities in Analytical Chem-istry he has been honored with different awards. Amongthese the Fresenius prize of the German Chemical Society,the Pregl medal of the Austrian Society of AnalyticalChemistry and the Philip-Morris research prize are onlythe most important ones.

Karlheinz Ballschmiter has been active in differentbodies of his university as well as in those of other chem-ical and environmental institutions. In this connection hewas, for example, dean of the Faculty of Nature Sciencesand Mathematics at the University of Ulm for three years,chairman of the Analytical Chemistry Section of the Ger-man Chemical Society and member of the consultantbody for environmentally relevant waste materials (BUA)in Germany. Recently, he was appointed as a member ofthe board of directors at the academy for “Technikfolgen-abschätzung” in Baden-Württemberg.

He is very well known as someone who precisely for-mulates a problem and puts it into a nutshell. Many of hiscolleagues appreciate his straightforward nature even ifthey cannot always agree with his opinion. However, thischaracter has allowed him to be successful in his researchwork as well as for the analytical society in solving com-mon problems of this discipline. The acceptance of Ana-lytical Chemistry as an independent field of chemistry bythe German Research Council DFG is one of his excellentresults in this connection during the last few years.

With respect to so many activities there is less time forprivate interests. However, he always found a little but nottoo little time for his family, for political engagements andhe is also an orchid expert. Different stories exist to ex-plain his nickname “Penguin”, which is even used by hiswife – and, if you wish to know more about KarlheinzBallschmiter, I recommend that you drink a few glasses ofwine with him.

Klaus G. Heumann

To Professor Dr. Karlheinz Ballschmiter on his 60th birthday

Fresenius J Anal Chem (1997) 359 :207 © Springer-Verlag 1997

EDITORIAL

K. G. HeumannInstitute of Inorganic Chemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz, Germany

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