Curriculum Vitae
Prof. Dr. Konrad Osterwalder
Switzerland
Konrad Osterwalder
Konrad Osterwalder was born in Frauenfeld, Thurgau, Switzerland, in June 1942. He studied at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule; ETH) in Zurich, where he earned a diploma in theoretical physics in 1965 and a doctorate in theoretical physics in 1970.
After one year with the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, he accepted a research position at Harvard University in 1971. He remained at Harvard for six years and was promoted to assistant professor for mathematical physics in 1973 and associate professor for mathematical physics in 1976. In 1977, he returned to Switzerland upon being appointed a full professor for mathematical physics at ETH Zurich.
In 1995 he was appointed rector of ETH and held that post for 12 years. From November 2006 through August 2007, he also served concurrently as ETH president pro tempore.
On 1 September 2007, Prof. Dr. Osterwalder joined United Nations University as its fifth rector. In that role, he holds the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Prof. Dr. Osterwalder's research focused on the mathematical structure of relativistic quantum field theory as well as on elementary particle physics and statistical mechanics. During his career, he has been a visiting fellow or guest professor at several prominent universities around the world, including the Institute des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHES; Bures-sur-Yvette, France), Harvard University, the University of Texas (Austin), the Max Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics (Munich), Università La Sapienza (Rome), Università di Napoli, Waseda University, and the Weizmann Institute of Science (Rehovot, Israel).
Rector Osterwalder was a fellow of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (1974–1978) and is a member of the Swiss Academy of Technical Sciences. He serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Club of Rome, holds an honorary degree from the Helsinki Technical University, and is an honorary member of Riga Technical University.
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Page last modified 2009.09.04.
