Obituary for Prof. George M. Sheldrick, PhD

Dear faculty members and guests,

it is with great sadness that we share the news that Prof. George Sheldrick passed away on 20.02.2025. Our deepest condolences go to his family.

The Faculty has lost an outstanding personality. Prof. Sheldrick deeply shaped and advanced the faculty and the institute, not only through his illustrious research career, but also as a highly committed lecturer. For many years he also served as a prudent and influential institute director.

In retirement, he was awarded a Professorship of the state of Lower Saxony, and remained actively involved in research, collaborating with numerous scientists and institutions.

Prof. Sheldrick was a pioneer in the field of structural chemistry, and his extraordinary creative power in this area was recognized by the award of the prestigious “Aminoff Prize in Crystallography” by the Swedish Academy of Sciences in 2009. This honor is still remembered with great affection by the many colleagues who have been working in the faculty since that time. In 1988, he was awarded the highest research prize of the German Research Foundation, the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, together with Prof. Roesky.

Although we must now bid him farewell, he will be remembered fondly and with gratitude by those who knew him, and his work will continue to inspire for generations to come.

Prof. Franc Meyer
(Director of the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry)

Prof. Dr. Inke Siewert
(Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry)