TEXTILES.ORG
Franz Effenberger, Ph.D., a former head of the Institute for Textile Chemistry and Chemical Fibers (ITCF) at the German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research Denkendorf (DITF), has passed away. Effenberger passed on Dec. 11, 2024, at the age of 94.
“Professor Effenberger was a brilliant chemist, researcher and university lecturer. With him, we lost an important companion of our research center—first as a member of the board of trustees and later as institute director. As recently as November, we were privileged to welcome Professor Effenberger as a guest of honor at the Aachen-Dresden-Denkendorf International Textile Conference organized by the DITF. The DITF owes Professor Effenberger a considerable debt of gratitude and will honor his memory,” says Michael R. Buchmeiser, chairman of the board at DITF.
Effenberger studied textile engineering in Krefeld, Germany, then chemistry at the Technical University of Stuttgart, where he received his doctorate in 1958 under Hellmut Bredereck. After a one-year research stay at the University of Michigan in the U.S. in 1965 and years as a Winnacker Fellow, he was appointed a professor of organic chemistry at the University of Stuttgart in 1971 and director of the Institute of Organic Chemistry at the University of Stuttgart. He worked in both roles until 2002.
At the University of Stuttgart, Effenberger contributed to the reform of the study of chemistry and was involved in establishing the major field of bioprocess engineering. In addition, he was active abroad: As a visiting professor, he taught at Cornell University in 1977 and at the Ecole Supérieure de Physique et Chimie in Paris in 1989.
His fields of work were the chemistry of aromatics, heterocycles and amino acids, the chemical principles of molecular electronics, applications of enzymes in synthesis and the development of ultra-thin organic layers. Effenberger has published around 350 papers and 55 patents. In 2023, he published his autobiography Von Aromaten und Heterocyclen zur Bio- und Nanotechnologie in the series Lebenswerke in der Chemie.
In 2003, Effenberger became the head of the ITCF at DITF after serving as a member of the board of trustees. He was head of the ITCF for six years. During his tenure, he initiated the development of carbon fiber technology with SGL Group at the ITCF.
For his scientific work and overall achievements, he received, among others, the Humboldt Research Award and the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class. His achievements have also been honored abroad. The Keiō University honored him with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellowship Award, the University of Strasbourg honored him with the Louis Pasteur Medal, and in France, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor. The Universidade Federal de Santa Maria in Brazil also awarded Franz Effenberger an honorary doctorate.