Editorial

60th Birthday of Gerhard Schomburg

August 22, 1989 marks the 60th birthday of Gerhard Schomburg, head of the Chromatography Department at the Max-Planck-lnstitut fiJr Kohlenforschung, MLilheim, FRG, university lecturer at the University of Wuppertal and, for many years, an editor of this journal.

Schomburg is one of the pioneers of gas and of liquid chromatography and he has actively promoted the develop- ment and practical application of these methods.

Gerhard Schomburg was born in Bochum on August 22, 1929. Following his education as a chemical engineer he studied chemistry at the University of Bonn. He com- pleted his doctorate thesis in the field of infrared spectro- scopy at the Max-Planck-lnstitut fLir Kohlenforschung under the direction of professor Karl Ziegler.

The same Karl Ziegler, later winner of the Nobel prize, in 1956 channelled Schomburg's enthusiasm for physical methods of analysis towards the still young technique of gas chromatography and entrusted him with building up a GC laboratory for the Institut. The most widely varied analytical problems were solved in an exemplary manner with the aid of up-to-date equipment and a well trained

and motivated laboratory team. The excellent reputation of this laboratory was enhanced by virtue of the beneficial effects of friendly cooperation with two colleagues in the same Institut. Dieter Henneberg was a partner in making significant developments in the identification of unknown mixtures by combined gas chromatography-mass spectro- metry; next, together with Engelbert Ziegler, Schomburg built up the so-called "M~ilheim-Computer-System" for the evaluation of chromatograms from 50 on-line chroma- tographs. More than 160 publications bear witness to the manifold contributions by the author and his co-workers.

Many members of chromatography conferences at home and abroad wil l know Gerhard Schomburg as a competent lecturer and committed speaker. Independence and the support given by his laboratory team for his various activi- ties are as important to him as the scientific discussions and personal contacts with colleagues.

Schomburg is the author of a practical text on gas chro- matography, the English language edition of which is in preparation, In extended development seminars under the aegis of the Gesellschaft deutscher Chemiker (GdCH) he passes on the benefits of his experimence in chroma- tographic techniques. In 1982 he became recognised as academic lecturer in analytical chemistry at the Universi- t~t-Gesamthochschule Wuppertal. In 1986 he was elected head of the chromatography study group in the Analyti- cal Chemistry section of the GdCH.

His achievements in chromatographic analysis and his scientific standing have been recognised by a series of awards and honours: Tswett Medal of the USSR Academy of Science (1972), Tswett Medal of the USA (1983), A. J. P. Martin Award (1984), Stephen Dal Nogare Award (1986) and Honorary Doctorate of the Universit~t-Ge- samthochschule Duisburg (1987).

The editors and readers of CHROMATOGRAPHIA wish their colleague many more years of successful activity in chromatography and participation in numerous stimula- ting meetings on the international scene.

L. Rohrschneider

Chromatographia Vol. 28, No. 3/4, August 1989 125