Eberhart Koehler

Eberhart Köhler (born November 16, 1929 in Siegmar ; † January 20, 1995 in Ilmenau ) was an electrical engineer specializing in teaching and researching microelectronics in the GDR . He was elected rector of the TH Ilmenau at the time of reunification and held this position until 1995. Under his leadership, the Technical University (TH) was raised to the rank of Technical University (TU) after evaluation and restructuring in 1992.

Life

Köhler was born as the son of a commercial clerk in Siegmar near Chemnitz . After graduating from secondary school in Chemnitz (1948), he studied electrical engineering at the TH Dresden from 1949 to 1954, specializing in high-frequency technology. He was a research assistant / senior assistant to Georg Mierdel and Klaus Lunze and received his doctorate in 1960 on dynamic behavior of pn transitions to become a Dr.-Ing. From 1961 to 1965 Köhler worked as an employee and department head at Werner Hartmann in the work center for molecular electronics in Dresden (AMD), one of the first research institutes for microelectronics in the GDR. In the year of his habilitation in 1965 with a contribution to the basics of microelectronics, he was appointed full professor for semiconductor technology at the Institute for Electronics at the TH Ilmenau. From 1969 to 1990 Köhler was head of the research area Active Principles of Microelectronics (formerly Electronic Components). In addition, from 1969 to 1980 he held the position of Director of the Physics and Technology Section for Electronic Components (PHYTEB) and from 1987 to 1990 he was Deputy Director of the PHYTEB Section for Research.

Due to his experience in the scientific organization, Köhler, who had consistently resisted temptations and pressures to become a party member, was elected rector of the TH Ilmenau on March 15, 1990 and fulfilled this task until his sudden death in 1995. His successor was the professor for Solid-state electronics Dagmar Schipanski .

After his death, a street in Ilmenau was named after him.

plant

Eberhart Köhler was also an internationally active scientist who - like his teacher Werner Hartmann - may have contributed to the creation of the historical basis of today's semiconductor industry in Silicon Saxony Dresden with current research and teaching . In addition to numerous publications, lectures, book chapters and lesson units, his research contracts on the subjects of EPROM , CCD , DRAM , GaAs , SOI and memory prognosis testify to this .

During Köhler's tenure as rector, the Ilmenau Technical University was upgraded to a Technical University (TU), which he had already aimed at in his investiture speech and then consistently pursued. In this context, his programmatic ideas when he took office are also noteworthy:

• Preservation of the reputation of the TH Ilmenau and development into a recognized university in Germany;
• Training of thought leaders and role models for democracy with a large space and time horizon and a basic humanistic and solidarity attitude;
• Raising awareness of society for economical and careful use of the earth's goods;
• Integration of the university in the social market economy;
• Classification of the university in the German university policy and in the German and European economic area with recommendation for the restructuring of the economy in the area of ​​today's GDR. Therefore: stay here and help this part of Germany on its feet!

literature

• Investiture of the rector Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Eberhart Köhler , Technical University of Ilmenau / Thuringia, April 27, 1990, Press and Public Relations Department, Ilmenau 1990

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Investiture of the Rector Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Eberhart Köhler , Technical University of Ilmenau / Thuringia, April 27, 1990, Press and Public Relations Department, Ilmenau 1990, p. 30

Web links

• Obituary by Dagmar Schipanski [1] (PDF; 840 kB)
• Ilmenauer Uni-Nachrichten 38, 2/1995 [2] (PDF; 3.7 MB)