In memory of former SAB Chair, Prof. Stefan U. Egelhaaf

Stefan was an outstanding scientist and wonderful person, who passed away much too early. He was a full professor (Soft Condensed Matter Physics) at the Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf.

He was well known to all of us at LINXS. Peter Schurtenberger (the inaugural LINXS Director) was his (unofficial) thesis supervisor, and claims that he learnt much more from him than he taught. Stephen Hall (the second LINXS Director) recalls him as a key member of LINXS who provided great and unwavering support who played a crucial role in the  development of LINXS in the early years.

A man, Stefan U Egelhaaf. Photo.

Stefan U. Egelhaaf was a full professor (Soft Condensed Matter Physics) at the Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf. He represented LINXS focus area Soft Matter in the SAB, and was former SAB Chair.

Trevor Forsyth (LINXS current Director) remembers him from the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, at Edinburgh University, at Dusseldorf, and then as Chair of the LINXS SAB (Science Advisory Board).

It was impossible to avoid being struck by his deep grasp of science and his quest for a fundamental understanding of the work he was involved in. This alone made him a truly valuable collaborator.  In addition, he brought a warm, friendly, and generous personality coupled with an infectious smile that lit up the room. 

He was totally committed to a wonderfully ‘old fashioned‘ way of doing research, focusing on really understanding complex problems, using carefully designed and executed experiments often combined with insightful theoretical work. He was an exceptional lecturer, going out of his way to find highly pedagogical ways of bringing across difficult subjects, and always showing his never-ending joy in science.

Most importantly, he was a wonderful and warm-hearted person without any trace of professional arrogance, a true friend to many of us,  generous to a fault, and brought many laughs and silly jokes along with his serious scientific insight. He took over as Chair of the LINXS SAB in 2021, following Lise Arleth, and gave selflessly of his time and initiative in helping the institute into the strong position it now holds for Sweden and internationally.

We will miss him terribly.  

  • Peter Schurtenberger, Stephen Hall, Anna Ntinidou, & Trevor Forsyth for LINXS Management and Staff

  • Christiane Alba-Simeonesco, for the LINXS Science Advisory Board

  • Anders Tunlid, for the LINXS Board


Noomi Egan