Walter Kuenzel

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Walter Josef Künzel (born November 2, 1928 in Königgrätz , Czechoslovakia ) is a German dentist . Among other things, he worked as a professor at the University of Leipzig from 1964 to 1975 and then at the Medical Academy in Erfurt , where he was the last rector from 1990 to 1993.

Life

Walter Künzel was born in Königgrätz in 1928 and graduated from the Humboldt University in Berlin with a degree in dentistry in 1953 , where he also received his doctorate in the same year . He then worked at the Humboldt University, where he completed his habilitation in 1962 , as an assistant and senior physician, initially under Wolfgang Rosenthal , then under his successor Josef Münch , and later there at the Clinic for Dental, Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases as head of the Caries research and prophylaxis department (appointed January 1, 1960).

After completing his habilitation and first lecturing in pediatric dentistry at a German university, he moved to the University of Leipzig in 1964 , where he became professor for conservative dentistry including pediatric stomatology. In 1975 he was reassigned to the first German chair for preventive dentistry at the Medical Academy Erfurt (MAE), where he was director of the preventive dentistry department until 1993 and at the same time director of the dentistry section until 1990. From 1990 until the MAE was closed, he was its freely elected and last rector .

Scientific work

Walter Künzel published over 400 scientific publications and several books on pediatric dentistry , caries prevention and gerostomatology. With his work on the prophylaxis of tooth decay and the fluoridation of drinking water in the GDR, he is considered one of the pioneers of preventive dentistry in Germany. He supervised more than 130 doctoral students and eight post-doctoral students, five of which were appointed professors.

From 1973 he was appointed member of several expert groups of the World Health Organization (WHO) and from 1983 to 1997 director of the Erfurt WHO collaboration center "Prevention of Oral Diseases". In 1966 he founded the Society for Conservative Stomatology and in 1969 the Society for Pediatric Stomatology, which he headed until 1978. From 1967 he was repeatedly elected member of the Advisory Board of the European Organization for Caries Research (ORCA) and its President from 1979 to 1981. From 1980 to 1988 Walter Künzel worked as President and then until the time of political change in the GDR as Vice President of the German Society for Stomatology of the GDR.

Awards

In recognition of his scientific achievements, Walter Künzel received the silver medal of the University of Trieste in 1973 , the honorary title of Honored Physician of the People in 1978 and the gold medal "Mores-Ars-Scientia" of the Japanese University of Gifu in 1983 . The Semmelweis University in Budapest (1990) and the University of Leeds (1991) awarded him an honorary doctorate .

Works (selection)

  • Pediatric dentistry and its border areas. Berlin 1965 (as co-editor); New edition under the title Pediatric Stomatology. Berlin 1974, 1976, 1984 (international edition: Springer 1976)
  • Drinking water fluoridation as a collective caries preventive measure. Berlin 1972, 1976
  • Textbook of pediatric stomatology. Leipzig 1979
  • Geriatric Dentistry in Eastern European Countries. Chicago, London and Berlin 1991
  • Caries Decline in Germany: A Study of Oral Health Development. Heidelberg 1997
  • Acta Apostolorum Erfurtensium 1819-2009. Erfurt Apostle Community. A chronicle between a quill pen and a personal computer. Erfurt 2009
  • The history of the dental societies in East Germany 1945-1990. Berlin 2010

literature

  • Kuenzel, Walter. In: Gabriele Baumgartner, Dieter Hebig (Hrsg.): Biographisches Handbuch der SBZ / DDR. 1945–1990. Volume 1: Abendroth - Lyr. KG Saur, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-598-11176-2 , p. 451.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ All biographical information, unless otherwise stated, from: Gabriele Baumgartner, Dieter Hebig, Munich 1996, p. 451 (see literature)
  2. ↑ Short messages. Berlin. German Stomatol. 10 (1960) 237
  3. ↑ Barbara Langanke: 125 years of academic dentistry in Leipzig: From one-man institute to large ZMK center , April 16, 2009
  4. ↑ German Society for Dentistry, Oral and Maxillofacial Medicine - History: The German Society for Stomatology of the GDR (accessed on October 12, 2009)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Kuenzel, Walter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Künzel, Walter Josef (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German dentist, last rector of the Medical Academy Erfurt
DATE OF BIRTH November 2, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Königgrätz