Franz Oberwinkler (22 May 1939 in

Bad Reichenhall Bad Reichenhall ( Central Bavarian: ''Reichahoi'') is a spa town, and administrative center of the Berchtesgadener Land district in Upper Bavaria, Germany. It is located near Salzburg in a basin encircled by the Chiemgau Alps (including Mount Sta ...

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (german: Oberbayern, ; ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and s ...

– 15 March 2018 in

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thre ...

) was a German

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as w ...

, specialising in the fungal

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

and

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spe ...

basidiomycetes Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Basi ...

. Oberwinkler earned his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper ''Piled Higher and Deeper'' (also known as ''PhD Comics''), is a newsp ...

in 1965 at the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: link=no, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of ...

studying under Josef Poelt. From 1967 to 1974 he was a research assistant and lecturer at the Institute of Systematic Botany, University of Munich, becoming professor in 1972. Between 1968–1969 Oberwinkler was Scientific Expert of the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

at the ''Instituto Forestal Latino-Americano'' in Mérida,

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

. In 1974 he was appointed as successor to Karl Mägdefrau as Chair of Systematic Botany and Mycology at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...

and from 1974 until his retirement in 2008 he was head of the University's botanic garden,

Botanischer Garten der Universität Tübingen The Botanischer Garten der Universität Tübingen, also known as the Botanischer Garten Tübingen or the Neuer Botanischer Garten Tübingen, is a botanical garden and arboretum maintained by the University of Tübingen. It is located at Hartmey ...

. In 2002 he became the founding

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and ...

, ''

Mycological Progress ''Mycological Progress'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering the study of fungi including lichens. It is published by Springer Science+Business Media on behalf of the German Mycological Society. Its editor in chief is Franz Oberwinkle ...

''. Between 1962 and 2010 he authored and co-authored 340 publications. Oberwinkler retired in 2008 becoming

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of the university's 'Organismic Botany Group' and he continued as editor-in-chief of the journal. He was the recipient of several awards, including the de Bary medal of the International Mycological Association (IMA) in 2010. Several fungal

taxa In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

are named in his honour including the species '' Amanita oberwinklerana'', '' Sphaerobasidioscypha oberwinkleri'', '' Thecaphora oberwinkleri'', '' Uromyces oberwinklerianus'', and the genera '' Oberwinkleria'' and '' Oberwinklerozyma''. He was a member of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters ( no, Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick Unive ...

from 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oberwinkler, Franz 1939 births 2018 deaths German mycologists Academic staff of the University of Tübingen People from Bad Reichenhall Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Presidents of the International Mycological Association

See also

References