UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 19, Page 1
February 8, 1996
Karl W. Boer appointed to German scientific board

     In 1961, Karl W. Boer, then chairperson of physics at East
Berlin's Humboldt University, was presenting a scientific paper at the
Photoconductor Conference at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. While
attending the international conference, the Berlin Wall was erected
and Boer decided not to return to his homeland.
     Now an American citizen and a University of Delaware
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Physics and Solar Energy, Boer is
able to return to his home country again.
     In early 1995, he was named a member of the advisory board of the
Photonic Center of the WISTA Scientific and Industrial Centre Berlin-
Adlershof. The only nonGerman on the eight-member board, Boer was
selected because of his experience in bringing representatives of
academia and industry together to collaborate on projects of mutual
interest.
     WISTA furthers close cooperation between business enterprises and
scientific institutions, with more than 3,400 scientists and
technicians working in nearly 200 companies and institutes throughout
the 1,000-acre complex in Berlin.
     Boer, who retired from the University of Delaware in 1994, is
still involved in several projects on campus. He remains an active
supporter of the UD, where he has been a faculty member since 1962,
and he initiated possibilities for several German students to spend
time on the UD campus. He continues to serve as editor-in-chief of the
annual edition of Advances in Solar Energy, and he is an honorary
editor of the Life Science Encyclopedia.
     Of his new role in WISTA's development, Boer said, "I felt this
was an area in which I could make a significant contribution and
impact."
     One of his current responsibilities is to help plan and develop a
central meeting facility on the WISTA complex that will be used as a
conference and meeting place for leading members of universities,
industry, finance and government. The goal, he said, is to create
first-class facilities similar to the Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C.
     Berlin's location, at a crossroads between north, south, east and
west, Boer explained, places WISTA in a natural geographic location
for the coming together of the best ideas from scientists and
industrial and academic researchers from throughout the world. He said
he also is responsible for alerting U.S. corporations to WISTA's
existence and developing a collaboration between U.S. and German
institutions.
     Since Germany's reunification, WISTA has taken on a key role in
the renewal process of Berlin and the German industrial and scientific
landscape. Its industries and institutions are involved in research
and development in key technological areas involving photonics and new
materials that will play major roles in the 21st century. The center
will become a role model to convert research results into marketable
products.
     The relationship among trade, industry and university research is
enhanced by having all the parties located in one central complex.
There also are programs to enhance WISTA's research and product
development through relations with new markets in Eastern Europe.
     The relocation of Humboldt University's science department to
WISTA, Boer said, will yield opportunities to increase and modernize
the institution's research library and facilitate the access, in one
central location, to all of the WISTA's cooperating companies and
institutes.
     Returning to his homeland and the institution where he worked
decades ago has had an impact on Boer.
     "It's my old home. It's the place where I lived, where I have
many friends," he said. "To go back to the place where I was living 35
years ago, and to now realize how I can help them, that's very
satisfying.
     "But I also continue to live here, where I made a choice to
remain many years ago. Actually, this is a way for me to have two legs
on the ground, one here and one in Germany. It rounds out my life. My
wife, Renate, still has family in Germany. I don't. They are all gone.
But now we are both working to bridge the distance between Germany and
Delaware."
                                                         -Ed Okonowicz