Hanns-Ulrich Habermeier died on July 20 in Stuttgart, Gemany. He was a world-renowned applied physicist, who spent his career in materials science. He remained active even through the most recent E-MRS/IUMRS International Conference on Advanced Materials in Nice, France, in May.

Hanns-Ulrich was born on January 27, 1945, in Crailsheim, a small city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, amid the bombing during the last phase of World War II. This ended up having a large influence on his philosophy of life.

He earned a master’s degree in physics from Universität Stuttgart in 1970 and his PhD degree from the same institution in 1974. He joined the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research in Stuttgart (1974–1978). He then joined the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in 1978 as a visiting scientist and staff scientist before being appointed (1980) as head of Scientific Services Technology at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart.

His scientific interests were devoted to the physics and technology of a broad spectrum of materials: magnetic, thermoelectrics, superconductors, thin films, ceramics, and oxides. He published approximately 400 papers and was invited to deliver numerous plenary and invited talks at conferences throughout the world.

He was involved in the German, European, and world science communities as a member of the German Physical Society (DPG), the European Materials Research Society (E-MRS), and the International Union of Materials Research Societies (IUMRS), serving as president of E-MRS from 2000 to 2003, as president of IUMRS from 2014 to 2016, and on the MRS Bulletin Editorial Board from 2008 to 2015.

Hanns-Ulrich played a crucial role in all of the E-MRS World Materials Summits and the Forum for Next Generation Researchers. He was a member of the European Physical Society and MRS.