Helmut J. Schmidt

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Helmut Josef Schmidt (born January 14, 1953 in Menden (Sauerland) ) is a German zoologist and university official.

academic career

After graduating from the Walram-Gymnasium in 1971, Schmidt studied biology and chemistry at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster and on a scholarship from the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International at the University of British Columbia (1975/76). Schmidt also received a scholarship from the German National Academic Foundation during his studies . His doctorate as Dr. rer. nat. he graduated from the University of Münster in K. Heckmann's laboratory in the field of zoology, which he graduated summa cum laude in 1980. His doctoral thesis was entitled “Investigations into the genetic complexity of the DNA of omikron, an essential endosymbiont of Euplotes aediculatus ”. In 1981 he received the dissertation award from the University of Münster for his work. From 1981 to 1984 he worked as a research assistant (PostDoc) at Indiana University Bloomington in John Preer's laboratory and then returned to the University of Münster. In 1988 he completed his habilitation at the University of Münster with the habilitation thesis "Characterization and comparison of genomic DNA clones with specific homologies to the serotype 51D of Paramecium tetraurelia " (habilitation grant from the German Research Foundation , DFG) and in 1990 became head of a junior research group within a special research area (SFB 310). In this context, he received the Benningsen Award of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. As a Heisenberg fellow of the DFG, Schmidt worked from 1992 to 1993 as an assistant visiting professor at the UCSF Medical School of the University of California in Elizabeth Blackburn's laboratory (Nobel Prize 2009). In 1995 he was appointed university professor at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern .

In 2005 Helmut J. Schmidt received the honorary doctorate "Doctor of Engineering honoris causa" from the Shonan Institute of Technology in Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan.

(University) political activity

From 1994 to 1997 Schmidt was Vice President of the German University Association . In 1996 he became dean of the biology department, an office which he held until 1997. From 1998 to 2002 he was Vice President of the Technical University of Kaiserslautern and from 2002 its President. In 2007 he was re-elected for the second term and in 2013 for the third term as President of the TU Kaiserslautern . In 2000 he also became Vice President and from 2005 to 2008 President of the German Society for Protozoology . In the seventh nationwide ranking of the German University Association, Schmidt was elected Rector of the Year in 2015 with an overall grade of 1.56. The 18-year term of office as President of the TU Kaiserlautern ended on June 30, 2020 and the certificate of retirement was presented to Schmidt. His successor in office was the previous Vice President for Research and Technology, Arnd Poetzsch-Heffter.

Outside of the Technical University of Kaiserslautern , Helmut Schmidt was and is also active in numerous committees and functions. From 2000 to 2009 he was chairman of the Supreme Advisory Board for Land Management of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Since 2006 he has been chairman of the foundation for the promotion of talented students and young academics (scholarship foundation) of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Schmidt is a member of the University Council of the University of Salzburg from 2013 to 2018 and 2018 to 2023 . Schmidt also holds various mandates on the executive board, advisory board, supervisory board and board of trustees of various foundations and institutes in Kaiserslautern and Mainz.

Personal life and trivia

Schmidt has been married to Friederike Schmidt (née Ammelt) since 1980 and has three children named Ansgar, Annelen and Antonia.

Helmut J. Schmidt's personal passion for scientific research was evident early on during his youth and student days. Schmidt published his first publication in 1972 and in 1975 he published a study on the nest box visiting behavior of the great tit in the magazine "Natur und Heimat", which he carried out together with a neighbor in the garden of his parents' house and the neighboring property in Menden (Sauerland) . Schmidt is also a passionate nature photographer in his spare time.

At the beginning of 2019, the scientific journal The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology described a newly discovered unicellular organism from the group of eyelash animals (ciliates). This single cell also belongs to a previously undescribed genus . The authors of the study gave this eyelash animal the systematic name Schmidtiella ultrahalophila when it was first described and justified the choice of name as a dedication to Prof. Helmut. J. Schmidt for his outstanding research contributions on the ecology of the ciliates.

literature

  • Who is who? The German Who's Who . 43rd edition. Schmidt-Römhild Verlag, Lübeck 2004, ISBN 978-3-7950-2038-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Catalog of the University and State Library of Münster
  2. ↑ a b Who’s Who , p. 1244.
  3. ^ T. Krüger and G. Rudinger: Rector and Minister of Science of the Year 2015, results of the DHV ranking. Research and teaching 3 | 15 200-203
  4. ^ Farewell after 18 years at the helm of the TU Kaiserslautern In: IDW - Informationsdienst Wissenschaft , July 1, 2020
  5. ↑ derStandard.at: University councils are almost complete now . Article dated April 30, 2018, accessed May 2, 2018.
  6. ^ University Council of the University of Salzburg . Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  7. ^ Prof. Schmidt from Menden re-elected as university president. In: WAZ , January 13, 2014
  8. ↑ Feldmann, R. and Schmidt, HJ (1972): On the occurrence of the hornet in the Iserlohn district . District of Iserlohn, issue 11, 286–287.
  9. ^ Schmidt, HJ and H. Kissmer (1975): Activity studies on the frequency of visits to nesting boxes in the great tit (Parus major L.) , Natur und Heimat 35 (3), 60-69.
  10. ↑ Li, F., Qu, Z., Luo, D., Filker, S., Hu, X. & Stoeck, T. (2019): Morphology, Morphogenesis and Molecular Phylogeny of a New Obligate Halophile Ciliate, Schmidtiella ultrahalophila gen . nov., spec. nov. (Ciliophora, Hypotrichia) Isolated from a Volcanic Crater on Sal (Cape Verde Islands). Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology. doi: 10.1111 / jeu.12714
personal data
SURNAME Schmidt, Helmut J.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schmidt, Helmut Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German zoologist and university official
DATE OF BIRTH January 14, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Menden (Sauerland)