Joachim Sauer

Joachim Sauer ( born April 19, 1949 in Hosena near Senftenberg ) is a German quantum chemist and physical chemist. He is currently Professor of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry at the Humboldt University in Berlin. He is the husband of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Professional Development

Sauer attended the Advanced High School Walther Rathenau in Senftenberg and completed in the period 1963 to 1967 in addition to the high school vocational training in the lignite Combine Lauchhammer. After graduation with honors testimony he studied from 1967 to 1972 at the Berlin Humboldt University Chemistry ( degree in chemistry ). He worked at the Humboldt University as a research assistant from 1973 to 1976 and in 1974 with the work of the consequences Koopmansschen theorem Restricted Hartree Fock in the methods for open-shell systems, summa cum laude, Dr. rer. nat. ( A PhD ) doctorate. From 1977 to 1991 he worked at the Central Institute for Physical Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR ( Berlin-Adlershof ). During this time he worked 12 months as a postdoc at Heyrovský Institute in Prague at Rudolf Zahradník and at the Technical University of Karlsruhe Reinhart Ahlrichs.

During his time at the Central Institute for Physical Chemistry Sauer 1985 sc with a thesis on quantum chemistry studies of active sites and adsorptive interactions between SiO2 and zeolite surfaces to Dr.. ( Promotion B) habilitation. In 1990 he received the teaching certificate ( facultas docendi ) of the Humboldt University.

After German reunification, Sauer was 1990/91 technical for one year at BIOSYM Technologies in San Diego Director for catalysis. In the period from 1991 to 2002, he worked for the Accelrys (formerly Molecular Simulations Inc., MSI) in San Diego as a consultant.

From 1992 to 1996 Sauer led the work Quantum Chemistry Group of the Max Planck Society, which was the Humboldt - University affiliated. He was appointed a full professor at the Humboldt University and Professor of the local Department of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry in 1993.

Sauer's main research areas are ab initio calculations of inorganic clusters and theoretical studies on the structure, energetics and dynamics of heterogeneous catalytic processes on zeolite systems. Sauer published several hundred scientific papers. Among his co-authors also Angela Merkel belongs.

Honors and Awards

Sauer is a member of the advisory board of several institutions, including the Alfried -Krupp - Kolleg Greifswald science. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees since 2011 Friede Springer Foundation.

Private

Sauer was born in 1949 as the son of the learned confectioner and insurance broker Richard Sauer in Brandenburg Hosena. He has a twin sister and an older brother. His father Richard died in 1972, his mother Elfriede Sauer lived until 1999.

Sauer is the father of two sons. They come from his previous marriage to a chemist who was divorced in 1985.

Since 30 December 1998, he is married to Angela Merkel, who he had met in 1981 at the Academy of Sciences of the GDR in Berlin- Adlershof. Although his wife as CDU leader and Chancellor very in the public eye, joint public appearances have been rare. Exceptions are the visits to the festival in Bayreuth and Salzburg. Sauer accompanied his wife early January 2006 for the first time on a trip abroad, which she undertook as chancellor to Vienna. On 13 July 2006 he was found during the visit of U.S. president George Bush in Stralsund for the first time within Germany for an official purpose.

On 25 March 2007, he invited the first time for the affiliate program (formerly the Women's Program ) a. On the edge of the Summit of EU heads of state and government in Berlin he dined with the First Ladies, while consistently male foreign heads of state dined with his wife for lunch.

Apart from that shields sour his private life from the media. Requests for interviews, which are not related to his scientific work, he rejects consistently.

In the fall of 2010, he said in an interview longer in a science magazine to the research conditions in the GDR.

Works (selection)

  • With Christoph Jung: Quantum chemical studies on electronic properties and intermolecular interactions of open-shell systems. Application to electron transfer reactions between the radical ions of aromatic hydrocarbons and their reactivity. Dissertation ( A), Humboldt University, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Berlin 1974, 254 pages
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