Joachim Sauer

German chemist, professor emeritus and husband of Angela Merkel (born 1949)

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Angela Merkel
​
(m. 1998)​
Children2AwardsForeign Member of the Royal Society (2018)[1]Scientific careerFieldsQuantum chemistryInstitutionsHumboldt University of Berlin Websitewww.chemie.hu-berlin.de/de/forschung/quantenchemie/Group/js-1

Joachim Sauer ForMemRS (German pronunciation: [ˈjoːaxɪm ˈzaʊɐ]; born 19 April 1949) is a German quantum chemist and professor emeritus of physical and theoretical chemistry at the Humboldt University of Berlin. He is the husband of the former chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel. He is one of the seven members of the board of trustees of the Friede Springer Foundation, together with former German president Horst Köhler and others.[2][3]

Education and early life

Sauer in 2009

Joachim Sauer was born in Hosena, a small town in the marshy Lusatian countryside between Dresden and Cottbus. He grew up with his twin sister and an elder brother. His father, Richard Sauer, had trained as a confectioner, but worked as an insurance representative. Sauer excelled at school.[4][5]

Career and research

Sauer studied chemistry from 1967 to 1972 at the Humboldt University of Berlin and was awarded a doctorate in chemistry in 1974. He continued to do research there until 1977, when he joined the Academy of Sciences, Central Institute of Physical Chemistry in Berlin, one of the leading scientific institutes of the former GDR (East Germany).

For a brief time during and after the German reunification (1990–1991) he was the deputy technical director (catalysis and sorption) for BIOSYM Technologies in San Diego, California (now BIOVIA). He remained an advisor for BIOSYM until 2002.

In 1992, he joined the Max Planck Society as head of the Quantum Chemistry Group in Berlin. In 1993, he became full professor of physical and theoretical chemistry at the Humboldt University of Berlin. He retired from his chair in October 2017 and was succeeded by Martin Schütz, who died the following year. Sauer remains affiliated with the university as a senior research fellow.[6]

He is an active research scientist in quantum chemistry and computational chemistry. His computational studies have allowed for a better understanding of the structures and activities of some catalysts such as zeolites, specifically their acid sites,[7] as well as the interpretation of solid state NMR spectra of nucleus Si-29, and quadrupolar nuclei such as Na-23,[8] Al-27 and O-17.[9][10]

Awards and honours

Personal life

From his previous marriage to a fellow chemist, Sauer has two sons: Daniel and Adrian. On 30 December 1998, he married Angela Merkel (herself a doctor of physics who had once worked in quantum chemistry research), who later became the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union. Due to the fact that Merkel became the first female chancellor of Germany on 22 November 2005, Sauer also assumed a role in diplomatic protocol as third-highest ranking spouse. In German order of precedence, the chancellor is the third-highest ranking office behind the President of Germany and the President of the Bundestag.

Sauer (right) with Angela Merkel, George W. Bush and Laura Bush

Because of his wife's political career, Sauer has received far more media attention than is usual for a research scientist. On several occasions, he has stated that he is not fond of this publicity.

During the 2005 election campaign Sauer kept a very low profile, declining to give any interviews not related to his scientific work. He attended the Bayreuth Festival, an opera festival and a highly visible social event in Germany, with his wife.[13] Sauer is known as a great lover of Wagner's music.

Even during his wife's election in the Bundestag, her inauguration, and later her taking the oath of office, Sauer was not present but reportedly briefly followed the event on TV from his university chemistry lab.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b "Joachim Sauer – Royal Society". royalsociety.org.
  2. ^ "Friede Springer Stiftung".
  3. ^ Sauer, Prof Dr Joachim. "Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Joachim Sauer — Quantenchemie der Festkörper/ Katalyse". www.chemie.hu-berlin.de.
  4. ^ Marc Hujer (2 January 2006). "Das Phantom". Joachim Sauer ist der erste Kanzleringatte Deutschlands. In seinem Leben hat er sich immer Unabhängigkeit bewahrt, jetzt aber soll er eine Rolle spielen, die andere für ihn ausgesucht haben. Doch er wehrt sich gegen die Gesetze der modernen Mediendemokratie. Vol. 01/2006. Der Spiegel (online). Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  5. ^ "Kurzbiografie ... Zur Person von Joachim Sauer". BUNTE Entertainment Verlag GmbH, München. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  6. ^ Meißner, Juliane; Harmsen, Torsten (23 December 2017). "Interview mit Joachim Sauer: Nobelpreise sind nicht alles". Berliner Zeitung.
  7. ^ Sauer, J, Haase, F (5 April 1995). "Interaction of Methanol With Bronsted Acid Sites Of Zeolite Catalysts – An Ab-Initio Study". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 117 (13): 3780–3789. doi:10.1021/Ja00118A014.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Koller, H.; Engelhardt, G.; Kentgens, A.P.M.; Sauer, J. (1994). "Na-23 Nmr-Spectroscopy of Solids – Interpretation of Quadrupole Interaction Parameters and Chemical-Shifts". Journal of Physical Chemistry. 98 (6): 1544–1551. doi:10.1021/j100057a004.
  9. ^ Bull Lucy, M., Dupree, R.; Cheetham, AK; Anupold, T; Reinhold, A; Samoson, A; Sauer, J; Bussemer, B; Lee, Y; Gann, S; Shore, J; Pines, A (1998). "A high-resolution(17)O NMR study of siliceous zeolite faujasite". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 120 (14): 3510–3511. doi:10.1021/ja9743001.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Bull, Lucy M, Dupree, R; Bussemer, B; Anupold, T; Reinhold, A; Samoson, A; Sauer, J; Cheetham, AK (2000). "A high-resolution O-17 and Si-29 NMR study of zeolite siliceous ferrierite and ab initio calculations of NMR parameters". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 122 (20): 4948–4958. doi:10.1021/ja993339y.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "List of Honorary Graduates". 30 January 2019. Archived from the original on 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  12. ^ "WATOC – Schroedinger". watoc.net. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  13. ^ Crossland, David (22 November 2005). "Merkel's Phantom of the Opera". Spiegel Online. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
  14. ^ Whitlock, Craig (8 June 2007). "The Professor's Quantum Leap". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2009.

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