Exp Toxic Pathol 1998; 50: 389-390 Gustav Fischer Verlag

65th birthday of Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Klinger, Jena

After a successful career as a pharmacologist and toxicologist Prof. KLINGER will celebrate his

65th birthday on July 3, 1998, and retire on September 30, 1998.

Following his medical studies Prof. KLINGER began his career at the Institute of Pharmacology

and Toxicology of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena in 1958. He was appointed university

lecturer in 1966 and professor of pharmacology and toxicology in 1969. Since 1973 he has been

the director of the institute which he had entered in 1958. Generations of medical students have

been taught by him since then. Besides teaching his speacial subject, Prof. KLINGER has dealt with

possibilities to improve medical education, e.g. better including general didactic and pedago­

gical principles. All the time he has been active in the training of specialists in pharmacology

and toxicology and in the scientific qualification of his coworkers as well. It is mainly due to

his commitment that in the sixties the institute successfully concentrated its research power on

Exp Toxic Pathol 50 (1998) 4-6 389

developmental pharmacology and toxicology thereby winning international reputation. Seven

international symposia on this subject were organized by the institute. Prof. KLINGER'S main

research interests being age-dependence of cytochrome P450-dependent monooxygenation, its

induction and the role of radicals in toxicology, have resulted in over 300 publications, books

and book contributions, which underlines his successful work as a scientist. Due to his repu­

tation and commitment WOLFGANG KLINGER was appointed to various important functions.

Several times he was elected as dean of the Medical Faculty and member of the senate of the

Friedrich Schiller University. Twice he was chairman of the Society of Pharmacology and Toxi­

cology of the GDR, after the unification of Germany vice chairman of the German Society of Pharmacology and Toxicology, and for 8 years a member of the committees of the European

Society of Toxicology and of the Federation of the European Societies of Toxicology. More­

over, Prof. KLINGER has been the president of the European Society of Biochemical Pharma­

cology since 1996. Another sign of his international reputation is that he was entrusted to or­

ganize two important international congresses: EUROTOX congress in Dresden (1979) and

European Workshop on Drug Metabolism in Jena (1996).

Prof. KLINGER is also attached to this journal. He is not only a member of the advisory board

of the "Experimental and Toxicologic Pathology", but, as the name of the journal implies, also

favours a cooperation between toxicologists and pathologists, which is reflected in a good many

joint publications in this journal, too.

The following papers mostly written by present and former coworkers are dedicated to Prof.

KLINGER. On behalf of all who contributed to this volume we thank Prof. KLINGER for decades of intensive, successful research work and promotion of young scientists. We wish him health

and after retirement much time for and pleasure in his hobbies.

Jena, May 1998

390 Exp Toxic Patho! 50 (1998) 4-6

Dieter Muller

Christian Fleck