thumb The thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thumb ...

Gian-Reto Plattner (10 December 1939 – 7 December 2009) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

and politician of the

Social Democratic Party of Switzerland The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (, SP; ), also called the Swiss Socialist Party (; , PS), is a List of political parties in Switzerland, political party in Switzerland. The SP has had two representatives on the Federal Council (Switzerl ...

. The son of chemist Placidus A. Plattner, he was born in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. He studied physics at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...

, where he received his doctorate in 1967 and habilitated in 1972. From 1984 he was an associate professor of experimental physics at the University of Basel. From 2000 he was also Vice-Rector for Research, before retiring in 2005. From 1984 to 1992 he was a member of the Grand Council of the

canton of Basel-Stadt Canton of Basel-Stadt or Basel-City ( ; ; ; ) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of three municipalities with Basel as the capital. It is traditionally considered a " half-canton", the other half being B ...

. From 1988 to 1992 he presided over the Socialist Group. He later represented the canton of Basel-Stadt in the Senate and served as President of the Council of States (2002-2003). He died on 7 December 2009 in Basel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plattner, Gian-Reto 1939 births 2009 deaths Members of the Council of States (Switzerland) Presidents of the Council of States (Switzerland) Swiss physicists Academic staff of the University of Basel Social Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians