OBITUARY: Prof. Dr. Peter Warneck

The Max Planck Planck Institute for Chemistry mourns the loss of Prof. Dr. Peter Warneck

On June 4, 2019, at the age of 91, our former colleague Prof. Dr. Peter Warneck passed away. He was a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry from 1970 until his official retirement in 1993 and afterwards remained closely associated with the institute as visiting scientist.

Peter Warneck was a physical chemist specialized in atmospheric chemistry. He received his diploma in 1954 and his doctorate at the University of Bonn in 1956. After various postdoctoral assignments, he moved in 1959 to GCA Corporation in Bedford, Massachusetts, USA where he investigated elementary chemical processes in the atmosphere of the Earth and other planets. In 1970 he returned to Germany to head the group for reaction kinetics and photochemistry of trace gases in the Department of Air Chemistry of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (Director Christian Junge) in Mainz. Following the retirement of Junge, Warneck initially moved to the Departments of Cosmochemistry, then Atmosphere Chemistry (Director Paul Crutzen) and then to Biogeochemistry (Director Meinrat O. Andreae). In 1974 he became professor of physical chemistry at the University of Mainz.

After German reunification in 1991, Peter Warneck was appointed the founding director of the new Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) in Leipzig. He worked in this position parallel to his work in Mainz until 1993.

Warneck's research included laboratory studies on chemical mechanisms and photochemistry, as well as the development of analytical techniques for field measurements. Since 1990, his interest has focused on chemical reactions in clouds. Peter Warneck has published numerous scientific studies and books, including the textbook 'Chemistry of the Natural Atmosphere'.

Peter Warneck was an outstanding scientist and a great role model for young academics. We also remember him as a passionate musician. We gratefully acknowledge the outstanding scientific achievements of Peter Warneck and his contribution to the well-being and working atmosphere of the institute.

The Kollegium, the Works Council and the staff of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (Otto Hahn Institute)