In Memoriam

Bernhard Wunderlich

(1931-2012)

  

 

 

Professor Bernhard Wunderlich  - age 81 of Knoxville, Tennesse, passed away Thursday, August 16, 2012.

 

He immigrated from Germany in 1954 and received his Ph.D. under the tutelage of Prof. Malcolm Dole from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois in 1957.

 

He was an instructor at Cornell University until 1963 where he became a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute while working there from 1963-1988. He was a consultant for DuPont Company for many years. In 1988, he moved to Knoxville, appointed as a Distinguished Scientist at both the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, until his retirement in 2001. 

 

Professor Wunderlich has been well known for his investigations and publications on “semicrystalline polymers”, “macromolecular crystallization” and “heat capacity measurements on polymers”.

 

His books on Macromolecular Physics (3 volumes, Academic Press, New York) have been widely read and translated into many different languages.  In 2010, Professor Wunderlich published his autobiography with the title of “A Science Career against all Odds” , Springer, Heidelberg.

 

We are all deeply saddened to learn the news from Professor Wunderlich’s family. Indeed, we have lost one of the great pioneers in the study of polymer science.

 

In lieu of flowers, the family of Prof. Wunderlich requests that donations be made to Asbury Place Rehabilitation Services, 2468 Sevierville Road, Maryville, TN37804 or to the Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra, 100 S. Gay St., Suite 302, Knoxville, TN 37902 www.knoxvillesymphony.com