Born on January 27, 1954 in Singen/Hohentwiel. Study of physics in Constance and Munich, diploma (1979), doctoral degree (1982), and German Habilitation (1986) at the Univ. of Munich, Research Associate Munich Univ. (1982-1983, 1984-1987) and Univ. of Washington, Seattle (1983-1984), Professor at the Universities of Würzburg (1987-1988), Mainz (1988-1989), Wuppertal (1989-2000) and Stuttgart (since 2000), Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research, today Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (since 2000). Emeritus.