Tribute to Hellmut Eckert

The Journal of Physical Chemistry (J. Phys. Chem. C 2021, 125, 8921-8926) has dedicated a Virtual Special Issue to Prof. Dr. Hellmut Eckert in honour of his 65th birthday, paying tribute to his outstanding contributions in the fields of glass chemistry, solid state chemistry and magnetic resonance. In the autobiographical article, Prof. Eckert vividly describes his scientific career and the countless research projects, teaching and supervisory activities as well as larger projects that he carried out and advanced as a renowned researcher and professor on three different continents. The focus, however, is on the collaboration with the many different people, whose influence and support have had a decisive influence on his career.

Prof. Dr. Hellmut Eckert studied and obtained his doctorate at the WWU Münster. After various positions in the USA and a professorship at the University of California he returned to his alma mater in 1995 to assume a professorship at the Institute of Physical Chemistry at the WWU. In Münster, as founder and president of the NRW Graduate School of Chemistry, he developed intensive contacts with research groups in Brazil: at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) and the State Universities of Araraquara (UNESP) and of São Paulo in São Carlos (USP-SC), all three in the state of São Paulo, as early as 20 years ago. Since 2011, he has also served as a professor at the Institute of Physics at USP in São Carlos and, in this capacity, established the Center of Research, Technology and Education on Vitreous Materials (CeRTEV). It is thanks to his enormous commitment and inspiring enthusiasm that the scientific cooperation between WWU and the USP-SC in the fields of physical chemistry and, in particular, NMR-spectroscopy is still exemplary and extremely fruitful today. Through countless contacts and common research interests, this close partnership is also very well positioned for the future.

We wish Prof. Dr. Eckert all the best and hope you enjoy the reading!

The tribute article [en]
Article on the IFSC/USP [pt]
CertEV
WWU-Website of Prof. Dr. Eckert

Reference: J. Phys. Chem. C 2021, 125, 8921-8926