UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 31, Page 11
May 9, 1996
Karl Boer honored by colleagues at alma mater
Karl Boer, University of Delaware Distinguished Professor
Emeritus of Physics and Solar Energy, was honored March 22 in Berlin
at a special Fest-Colloquium at his alma mater Humboldt University's
Institute of Physics, where he also had served on the faculty and as
chairperson of the fourth Physics Department.
In keeping with a tradition at many European institutions, the
recognition ceremonies coincided with Boer's 70th birthday. But, going
beyond common practice, a formal symposium- featuring and attended by
distinguished colleagues-also was held in Boer's honor.
Boer, who has been associated with the University of Delaware
since 1962, has achieved a world-recognized position in teaching and
research. In 1971, he was instrumental in creating, and served as the
first director of, the UD Institute of Energy Conversion. In 1993, he
was named a Distinguished University Professor.
Although he retired in 1994, Boer is still involved in several
campus projects. He remains an active supporter of the UD, and he
initiated opportunities for several German students to spend time on
the UD campus. Editor-in-chief of the annual edition of Advances in
Solar Energy, he is an honorary editor of the Encyclopedia of Life
Support Systems.
In early 1995, Boer was named to the advisory board of the
Photonic Center of the WISTA Scientific and Industrial Center Berlin-
Adlershof. The only non-German 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.
The Humboldt colloquium featured formal presentations by scholars
from the Technical University of Berlin, England's University of
Southampton and Solarex Inc. of the United States.
A bound volume, called a Festschrift, of the international
journal Physica Status Solidi, was published to mark the occasion. It
contains technical papers of more than 120 authors and co-authors
submitted in tribute by expert colleagues. Several associates from
throughout the world, including colleagues from America and Australia,
attended the ceremonies.
Boer also received more than 100 letters of congratulations.
Excepts include:
* * *
"In addition to the formal direction that you provided the Materials
Science Program and the Institute of Energy Conversion, your informal
contributions are just as important. We have taken great pride in
considering you one of our most distinguished professors during the
course of your tenure."
Stuart L. Cooper, H. Rodney Sharp Professor of Chemical Engineering
and dean, College of Engineering
* * *
"Our association of some 27 years has been a special one and very
rewarding, too, as friend and colleague. Your excellence and
professional endeavors and your ability to contribute to the
achievement of our University have been admired and appreciated very
much."
Art Trabant, president emeritus, University of Delaware
* * *
"For more than two decades, he [Boer] has been one of the most
devoted, dependable and productive leaders of professional societies
in solar energy, both in the U.S.A. and elsewhere. For him, doing the
work has always been the most important concern, getting credit was
secondary. These honors and credits are long overdue."
Francis De Winter, former president of the
American Solar Energy Society
* * *
"Although you have made many contributions as a professor, as a
scientist, as an industrialist and as an editor, I hope you will
continue to contribute actively to the advance of science in
photovoltaics and to its diffusion."
Prof. R. Van Overstraaten, president, Imec, Belgium
Among those attending the Boer celebration was William I. Homer,
H. Rodney Sharp Professor of Art History and a close associate, who
was accompanied by his wife, Christine.
"The accolades given to Karl were genuine and quite refreshing,"
Homer said. "What impressed me, personally, was that a number of his
former students were there and many of them were directors and
professors at universities and heads of research facilities."
At the formal symposium, Homer was called upon to read greetings
to Boer from the University of Delaware. He said he received the very
definite impression that those attending, who were recognized experts
in their respective fields, had done so out of respect for Boer's
professional reputation. But, Homer added, Boer's relationship with
many of his colleagues was also warm, personal and quite friendly.
"I felt very good about playing a role in Karl's tribute," Homer
said. "I consider the reception a great honor, and I was proud that it
reflected so positively on the University of Delaware."
Homer said he also was impressed with Boer's comments and
presentation to those assembled in his honor.
"I've known Karl socially for 30 years and had never heard him
lecture. When he spoke, he gave one of the most powerful and eloquent
speeches. He spoke with commanding authority and grace to an audience
that had just honored him."
Boer said the colloquium was held at Humboldt University because
of his life-time association with that institution. He had devoted
energy to help rebuild the institution after World War II and, more
recently, following the Reunification of Germany.
"I had not expected the number of people who attended to attend,
and I was impressed that some of them came from such a distance," Boer
said. "It was incredibly satisfying to have them come.
"We were brought together as a very special group," he said of
his former colleagues. "We did many things together and became good
friends. It also was very satisfying to see so many of my former
students, who have become successful scientists, many achieving the
rank of professor."
-Ed Okonowicz