Günther Vormum

Günther Vormum (born August 7, 1926 in Rostock ; † December 8, 2013 in Berlin ) was a German chemist . As a professor at the German Academy of Sciences, Vormum was one of the pioneers of isotope use in the GDR.

Life

Vormum attended elementary school in Bredereiche from 1933 to 1937 and the Carolinum grammar school in Neustrelitz from 1937 to 1940 . He moved to Rostock in 1940, but was unable to take his Abitur due to the war, as he was deployed as an air force helper from 1943 . Vormum experienced the end of the war in French captivity, from which he was released in 1946. As an external high school student, Vormum passed his Abitur on July 15, 1947 in Rostock.

Vormum studied chemistry at the University of Rostock from 1947 to 1951 and received his doctorate in 1953 under Professor Günther Rienäcker . He then went to the Humboldt University in Berlin as a senior assistant .

In March 1956, Vormum moved to the Institute for Medicine and Biology of the German Academy of Sciences in Berlin-Buch and became a research assistant in the field of applied isotope research . In 1957 he succeeded Hans-Joachim Born as acting head and a short time later head of this department. In this function, the Office for Nuclear Research and Technology of the GDR commissioned him to set up the isotope distribution center, which he took on part-time in 1959.

From 1961 to 1969 Vormum was director of the independent institute for applied isotope research . In 1969 he was appointed professor. With the reform of the academy, the institute was incorporated as a branch in the Central Institute for Isotope and Radiation Research in Leipzig. Until his retirement in 1991, Vormum was the head of this branch and of the Radiation Sources and Nuclear Pharmaceuticals division.

He was a member of the Research Council of the GDR , the Standing Commission Isotopes and the Scientific Council of the Office for Atomic Safety and Radiation Protection of the GDR. On behalf of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vormum was a specialist in Brazil, Malaysia, India and Turkey. He has led international IAEA courses several times.

Vormum was a member of the Leibniz Society .

Services

Vormum's work was decisive for the use of isotopes in the GDR. He does fundamental work for the design, construction and operation of isotope laboratories and special radiation protection facilities.

In his institute a regular production of radioactively marked substances and radioactive radiation sources arose with a necessary preliminary research for this isotope production.

The development of enclosed radioactive radiation sources was possible thanks to his broad knowledge in the fields of chemistry, materials, material processing and vacuum technology. In particular, the capsule technology introduced by Vormum, electron beam welding for horizontal and vertical seams and tungsten inert gas welding ensured that the institute's radiation sources had a high radiation protection standard that was recognized around the world and enabled the radiation sources to be exported abroad. The cobalt-60 and cesium-137 radiation sources could replace the usual radium sources. A particular success was the development of ruthenium-106 treatment carried out together with ophthalmologists from the Charité Berlin.

His work is documented in 10 patent applications.

literature

• Lothar Kolditz: Obituary for our member Günther Vormum. Leibniz Society of Sciences in Berlin eV, published on December 14, 2013.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Para-hydrogen conversion in copper-palladium and copper-nickel alloys , University of Rostock, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, dissertation from December 15, 1953.
2. ↑ N. Bornfeld, PK Lommatzsch: Obituary for Günther Vormum (father of the ruthenium caps ) , Clinical Monthly Journal for Ophthalmology 2014; 231 (7): 747.