Helmut Schwarz (born 6 August 1943) is a German

organic chemist Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...

. He has been a professor of chemistry at the

Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin; also known as Berlin Institute of Technology and Technical University of Berlin, although officially the name should not be translated) is a public university, public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was the first ...

since 1978. In 2018, he was elected a foreign associate of the U.S.

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

Career

Helmut Schwarz first learned to be a chemical technician and then went on to study chemistry at the TU Berlin. He completed his studies in 1971 and obtained his PhD in 1972 and his

Habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

in 1974 under Ferdinand Bohlmann. He pursued post-doctoral work at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

(MIT) and in the UK, after which he became a professor at the TU Berlin in 1978. Schwarz studies chemical reactions, specifically gas phase chemistry of ionic and radical organic species. He is furthermore working on advancing the analytical capabilities of

mass spectrometry Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that is used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. The results are presented as a ''mass spectrum'', a plot of intensity as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio. Mass spectrometry is used ...

. He was president of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation from 2008 to 2018. From 2010 to 2015 he was president of the German Academy of Researchers Leopoldina and he is a member of acatech.

Honors and memberships

Schwarz was an editor of the International Journal of Mass Spectrometry from 1983 to 2010 and between 1990 and 1994 he was editor of Chemischen Berichte. He was part of the editorial board of Mass Spectrometry Reviews from 1990 to 2003, of Helvetica Chimica Acta (1990 to 2002), and of the

Journal of the American Chemical Society The ''Journal of the American Chemical Society'' (also known as JACS) is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1879 by the American Chemical Society. The journal has absorbed two other publications in its history, the ...

(2007 to 2015). He is a member of the following societies *

(since 2018) *

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

(since 2012) * Estonian Academy of Sciences (since 2002) *

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

(since 1997) *

Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Göttingen Academy of Sciences (name since 2023 : )Note that the German ''Wissenschaft'' has a wider meaning than the English "Science", and includes Social sciences and Humanities. is the oldest continuously existing institution among the eig ...

(since 1997) * Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (since 1992) * German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (since 1992) * (since 1991) He has received numerous awards and honors, among them * Wolf Prize in Chemistry (2025) * BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2024) *

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...

, Gold and Silver Star (2018) * ENI award (2015) * (2015) * Schrödinger Medal from the ''World Association of Theoretical and Computational Chemists'' (WATOC, 2015) * Lichtenberg Medal (2012) *

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

(2012) * Erwin Schrödinger Medal (2008) *

Otto Hahn Prize The Otto Hahn Prize is awarded biennially jointly by the Society of German Chemists (), the German Physical Society () and the city of Frankfurt am Main for outstanding achievement in the field of chemistry, physics or applied engineering science. ...

(2003) * Prelog Medal, ETH Zürich (2000) * Liebig Medal (1998) * Max-Planck-Forschungspreis (1991, with Chava Lifshitz) * Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (1990) * Otto Bayer Award (1989) * Otto-Klung-Weberbank-Preis (1980)

Personal life

In April 2023, Schwarz was one of the 22 personal guests at the ceremony in which former

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Angela Merkel was decorated with the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit for special achievement by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Frank-Walter Steinmeier Frank-Walter Steinmeier (; born 5 January 1956) is a German politician who has served as President of Germany since 2017. He was previously Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany), federal minister for foreign affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again f ...

at Schloss Bellevue in Berlin.Miriam Rathje (17 April 2023)
Ohne Merz, aber mit Klinsmann: Das ist die Gästeliste für Angela Merkels Ordensverleihung
''

Der Tagesspiegel (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington, D.C., and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, since reunificati ...

''.

References

External links

*
Website
at the

. 1943 births Living people 21st-century German chemists German organic chemists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Members of Academia Europaea Members of the Estonian Academy of Sciences Members of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners Schrödinger Medal recipients Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class Wolf Prize in Chemistry laureates German computational chemists Thomson Medal recipients Studienstiftung alumni Mass spectrometrists 20th-century German chemists Technische Universität Berlin alumni Academic staff of Technische Universität Berlin {{Germany-chemist-stub