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Rolf-Dieter Heuer
Heuer in 2009
Born	(1948-05-24) 24 May 1948 (age 76) Bad Boll, Baden-Württemberg
Awards	Nature's 10 (2012)
Scientific career
Institutions	Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft CERN University of Stuttgart University of Heidelberg
Doctoral advisor	Joachim Heintze

Rolf-Dieter Heuer (German: [ʁɔlf ˈdiːtɐ ˈhɔʏɐ]; born 24 May 1948) is a German particle physicist. From 2009 to 2015 he was Director General of CERN and from 5 April 2016 to 9 April 2018 President of the German Physical Society (Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft). Since 2015 he has been Chair of the European Commission's Group of Chief Scientific Advisors, and since May 2017 he has been President of the SESAME Council.

Biography

Heuer studied physics at the University of Stuttgart. He then obtained his PhD 1977 at the University of Heidelberg under Joachim Heintze for his study of neutral decay modes of the Ψ(3686).

His post-doc studies include the JADE experiment at the electron-positron storage ring PETRA at DESY, and from 1984, at the OPAL experiment at CERN, where he also became spokesperson of the OPAL collaboration for many years.

Having been offered a full professorship for experimental physics at the University of Hamburg, Heuer returned to DESY in 1998. In 2004, he was appointed DESY's Research Director.

In December 2007, the CERN research council announced that Heuer would become CERN's Director General starting 1 January 2009, succeeding Robert Aymar.

In 2011 Heuer gave a talk The High Energy Frontier Past, Present and Future at the international symposium on subnuclear physics held in Vatican City.

Since November 2015, Heuer has been a member of the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors set up by the European Commission. In 2016 he became President of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, and in May 2017 the President of the SESAME Council.

In 2022, Heuer was appointed a member of the African Synchrotron Initiative Think Tank with a view to set up a Pan-African project for the African Light Source.

Awards

• On 15 June 2011, Heuer was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Victoria.
• On 19 July 2011, Heuer was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Liverpool. In his speech to the graduands he spoke of the need to bring science into mainstream culture.
• On 16 December 2011, Heuer was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Birmingham.
• On 13 June 2012, Heuer was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Glasgow.
• On 12 November 2012, he was awarded an Edison Volta Prize.
• On 5 December 2013, he was awarded the UNESCO Niels Bohr Medal.
• In May 2015, he was awarded a Grand Cross 1st class of the German Order of Merit.
• In September 2015, Heuer was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Belgrade.
• On 22 November 2016, Heuer was appointed a Knight of the Legion of Honour.

References

1. Heuer, R. D.; Rosenzweig, C.; Steltzner, A.; Blanpain, C.; Iorns, E.; Wang, J.; Handelsman, J.; Gowers, T.; De Bernardinis, B.; Fouchier, R. (2012). "366 days: Nature's 10". Nature. 492 (7429): 335–343. Bibcode:2012Natur.492..335.. doi:10.1038/492335a. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 23257862.
2. "Prof. Dr. Rolf-Dieter Heuer" (PDF). The Max Planck Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 1, 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
3. Brumfiel, G. (2012). "366 days: Nature's 10 – Rolf-Dieter Heuer: The Higgs diplomat". Nature. Vol. 492, no. 7429. pp. 335–343. Bibcode:2012Natur.492..335.. doi:10.1038/492335a.
4. Heuer, R. -D. (2012). "The future of the Large Hadron Collider and CERN". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 370 (1961): 986–994. Bibcode:2012RSPTA.370..986H. doi:10.1098/rsta.2011.0467. PMID 22253249.
5. "CERN Director General to be President of the German Physical Society from 2016 to 2018". DPG press release from. 2014-12-05.
6. "Members of the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors". European Commission – European Commission. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
7. "PRESIDENTS/VICE-PRESIDENTS OF COUNCIL – Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East". SESAME. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
8. "Council appoints Rolf-Dieter Heuer as CERN's next director-general...and looks to the LHC start-up and beyond". CERN Courier. 48 (1): 5. January 2008.
9. Sutton, Christine (March 2009). "CERN sets course for new horizons". CERN Courier. 49 (2): 15–16.
10. Sánchez Sorondo, Marcelo; Zichichi, Antonino, eds. (2014). "The High Energy Frontier Past, Present and Future by Rolf-Dieter Heuer" (PDF). Subnuclear Physics: Past, Present and Future; Proceedings of the International Symposium, held 30 October - 2 November 2011, held in Vatican City. Scripta Varia, volume 119. Pontifical Academy of Sciences. pp. 152–163.
11. "The African Synchrotron Initiative (ASI) Think Tank | The AAS". www.aasciences.africa. Archived from the original on 2022-10-29. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
12. ^ "Rolf Heuer awarded prestigious French honour". CERN People. CERN. 10 April 2024.

Further reading

• "Professor Dr. Rolf-Dieter Heuer Appointed as New Research Director", DESY Press Release, Hamburg, 4 October 2004
• "Rolf-Dieter Heuer to be New CERN Director General", DESY Press Releases, Hamburg, 14 December 2007
• "UNESCO and CERN: like hooked atoms; Jasmina Sopova meets Rolf-Dieter Heuer", in "Chemistry and life", The UNESCO Courier, January–March, 2011, pp. 48–50.

External links

• Scientific publications of Rolf-Dieter Heuer on INSPIRE-HEP

• 1948 births
• People associated with CERN
• 20th-century German physicists
• Living people
• Particle physicists
• UNESCO Niels Bohr Medal recipients
• Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• Knights of the Legion of Honour
• 21st-century German physicists
• Presidents of the German Physical Society
• Academic staff of the University of Hamburg