- Email: [email protected]
Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dr. h.c.mult. Paul J. Kühn, University of Stuttgart on the occasion of his 65th birthday
Int. J. Electron. Commun. (AEÜ) 60 (2006) 93 – 94 www.elsevier.de/aeue
EDITORIAL
Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dr. h.c.mult. Paul J. Kühn, University of Stuttgart on the occasion of his 65th birthday
On December 29, 2005, Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dr. h.c.mult. Paul J. Kühn celebrated his 65th birthday. We would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to his extraordinary career and his achievements – both as an outstanding researcher and as an excellent teacher. We do this on behalf of the countless students, staff members, colleagues and friends all over the world whose respect and admiration he has acquired over the past decades. Paul Kühn was born in Grüssau, Lower Silesia. He completed his school education in Stuttgart after his family had moved there. Early in his career he became interested in telecommunications and obtained professional training as a technician for telephone systems. Consequently, he was specializing in the area of communication systems while studying electrical engineering at the University of Stuttgart. After graduating with a “Diplom-Ingenieur” degree in 1967, he joined the Institute for Switching and Data Techniques of the University of Stuttgart which had been founded by Prof. Dr. Alfred Lotze in the late 1950s and started his research in teletraffic theory. For his thesis entitled “Waiting Time Analysis in Computer Systems and Computer Networks” he received the “Dr.-Ing.” degree with highest distinctions in 1972 and his dissertation was also awarded the “NTG-Prize” by the German Communications Society. He stayed at the institute until 1977 to continue his research work and headed a research group in the area of teletraffic and networking. During this period, he was already teaching courses in communications at the University of Erlangen. In 1977, he joined the Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, NJ, where leading scientists teamed up to perform cutting-edge research in communications and networking. A call to establish the newly founded chair for “Communications Switching and Transmission” at the University of Siegen brought him back to Germany in 1978. In addition to building up a successful research group, he finalized his habilitation thesis and obtained the venia legendi from the University of Stuttgart in 1981.
1434-8411/$ - see front matter 䉷 2005 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.aeue.2005.11.013
In 1982, he positively responded to an offer to succeed Prof. Lotze as director of the Institute for Switching and Data Techniques at the University of Stuttgart. Despite several subsequent calls he stayed there and has formed one of the most productive and internationally renowned research groups in the areas of teletraffic theory, communications and networking. Paul Kühn’s scientific career started in an era when “communication” basically meant “telephony” and computers barely existed and it spans all the way into the Internet age. One of his early merits was the compilation of his comprehensive collection of “Tables of Delay Systems” in 1976 which served as reference for researchers and engineers for far more than a decade. His approach towards the “Approximate analysis of general queueing networks by decomposition” published in the late 1970s was a fundamental contribution in the area of queueing networks. Since then, Paul Kühn was always at the forefront of research accompanying and shaping the dramatic evolution of communication network architectures and their protocols. While the topics changed—from Local Area Networks, via ISDN and the first packet switched data networks towards broadband networks based on ATM and the Internet—he always provided significant contributions which were both theoretically sophisticated and also applicable in “real life”. This combination is reflected in the close and long standing cooperation he has established with major manufacturers and network operators in Germany and abroad. Paul Kühn was not only successfully participating in national and European research initiatives in the field, he was always among those key people defining, pushing and evolving them with his seemingly unlimited energy and persistence. His exceptional standing in the worldwide research community is documented by numerous positions and awards he holds. Since 1991, he is the elected chairman of the international advisory council of the “International Teletraffic Congress”. In 1987, he has been appointed Governor of
94
Editorial / Int. J. Electron. Commun. (AEÜ) 60 (2006) 93 – 94
the International Council for Computer Communications. Paul Kühn is an IEEE fellow since 1989, member of the Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften since 1993 and member of the Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina in Halle since 1995. He was awarded honorary Doctor degrees from the Lund Institute of Technology, Sweden, in 1996 and from Dresden University of Technology in 1998. In 1998, he received the Columbus Gold Medal from the city of Genua, Italy. In 2001, he was decorated with the French “Chevalier des Palmes Académiques”. In 2003, he received the Basic Research Award of the Eduard-Rhein-Stiftung “for fundamental contributions to traffic theory and performance analysis, and his pioneering work in the definition of protocols for packet-switched telecommunications networks that support real-time applications”. In addition to being an excellent researcher, Paul Kühn is also an outstanding academic teacher. To date he has led more than 70 students to their doctor’s degree, three of whom now hold full professorships at universities. Since 1991, he teaches at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications (ENST) in Paris, France, where he was appointed Professeur Associé. Constantly trying to evolve and improve academic education, he has established a successful double diploma degree between the ENST and the University of Stuttgart. In 1998, he was elected as Senator E. h. by the University of Mannheim for his contribution to the development of the new study program “Technische Informatik”. At the University of Stuttgart he established the “Infotech” program in 1999 as one of the pioneering and most
successful international M.Sc. programs in Germany. For several years now he is instrumental in establishing the German University in Cairo (GUC) where he is founding dean of the Faculty of Information Engineering and Technology since 2002. Paul Kühn complements his professional excellence and dedication with openness, friendliness and absolute integrity thus making his institute a well known and highly popular address for students, staff members, colleagues, cooperation partners and the numerous guests he hosts. On behalf of all former and current members of his institute, all colleagues, the whole teletraffic community and all his friends from around the globe we congratulate Prof. Kühn sincerely on his 65th birthday. We would like to thank him for all he did for us and wish him and his family all the best for the future. The guest editors feel very privileged to have him as academic teacher and scientific adviser. Erwin P. Rathgeb Computer Networking Technology Group, Institute for Experimental Mathematics, University Duisburg-Essen, Ellernstrasse 29, 45326 Essen, Germany E-mail address: [email protected] Phuoc Tran-Gia Department of Distributed Systems, Institute of Computer Science, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
EDITORIAL
Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dr. h.c.mult. Paul J. Kühn, University of Stuttgart on the occasion of his 65th birthday
On December 29, 2005, Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dr. h.c.mult. Paul J. Kühn celebrated his 65th birthday. We would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to his extraordinary career and his achievements – both as an outstanding researcher and as an excellent teacher. We do this on behalf of the countless students, staff members, colleagues and friends all over the world whose respect and admiration he has acquired over the past decades. Paul Kühn was born in Grüssau, Lower Silesia. He completed his school education in Stuttgart after his family had moved there. Early in his career he became interested in telecommunications and obtained professional training as a technician for telephone systems. Consequently, he was specializing in the area of communication systems while studying electrical engineering at the University of Stuttgart. After graduating with a “Diplom-Ingenieur” degree in 1967, he joined the Institute for Switching and Data Techniques of the University of Stuttgart which had been founded by Prof. Dr. Alfred Lotze in the late 1950s and started his research in teletraffic theory. For his thesis entitled “Waiting Time Analysis in Computer Systems and Computer Networks” he received the “Dr.-Ing.” degree with highest distinctions in 1972 and his dissertation was also awarded the “NTG-Prize” by the German Communications Society. He stayed at the institute until 1977 to continue his research work and headed a research group in the area of teletraffic and networking. During this period, he was already teaching courses in communications at the University of Erlangen. In 1977, he joined the Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, NJ, where leading scientists teamed up to perform cutting-edge research in communications and networking. A call to establish the newly founded chair for “Communications Switching and Transmission” at the University of Siegen brought him back to Germany in 1978. In addition to building up a successful research group, he finalized his habilitation thesis and obtained the venia legendi from the University of Stuttgart in 1981.
1434-8411/$ - see front matter 䉷 2005 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.aeue.2005.11.013
In 1982, he positively responded to an offer to succeed Prof. Lotze as director of the Institute for Switching and Data Techniques at the University of Stuttgart. Despite several subsequent calls he stayed there and has formed one of the most productive and internationally renowned research groups in the areas of teletraffic theory, communications and networking. Paul Kühn’s scientific career started in an era when “communication” basically meant “telephony” and computers barely existed and it spans all the way into the Internet age. One of his early merits was the compilation of his comprehensive collection of “Tables of Delay Systems” in 1976 which served as reference for researchers and engineers for far more than a decade. His approach towards the “Approximate analysis of general queueing networks by decomposition” published in the late 1970s was a fundamental contribution in the area of queueing networks. Since then, Paul Kühn was always at the forefront of research accompanying and shaping the dramatic evolution of communication network architectures and their protocols. While the topics changed—from Local Area Networks, via ISDN and the first packet switched data networks towards broadband networks based on ATM and the Internet—he always provided significant contributions which were both theoretically sophisticated and also applicable in “real life”. This combination is reflected in the close and long standing cooperation he has established with major manufacturers and network operators in Germany and abroad. Paul Kühn was not only successfully participating in national and European research initiatives in the field, he was always among those key people defining, pushing and evolving them with his seemingly unlimited energy and persistence. His exceptional standing in the worldwide research community is documented by numerous positions and awards he holds. Since 1991, he is the elected chairman of the international advisory council of the “International Teletraffic Congress”. In 1987, he has been appointed Governor of
94
Editorial / Int. J. Electron. Commun. (AEÜ) 60 (2006) 93 – 94
the International Council for Computer Communications. Paul Kühn is an IEEE fellow since 1989, member of the Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften since 1993 and member of the Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina in Halle since 1995. He was awarded honorary Doctor degrees from the Lund Institute of Technology, Sweden, in 1996 and from Dresden University of Technology in 1998. In 1998, he received the Columbus Gold Medal from the city of Genua, Italy. In 2001, he was decorated with the French “Chevalier des Palmes Académiques”. In 2003, he received the Basic Research Award of the Eduard-Rhein-Stiftung “for fundamental contributions to traffic theory and performance analysis, and his pioneering work in the definition of protocols for packet-switched telecommunications networks that support real-time applications”. In addition to being an excellent researcher, Paul Kühn is also an outstanding academic teacher. To date he has led more than 70 students to their doctor’s degree, three of whom now hold full professorships at universities. Since 1991, he teaches at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications (ENST) in Paris, France, where he was appointed Professeur Associé. Constantly trying to evolve and improve academic education, he has established a successful double diploma degree between the ENST and the University of Stuttgart. In 1998, he was elected as Senator E. h. by the University of Mannheim for his contribution to the development of the new study program “Technische Informatik”. At the University of Stuttgart he established the “Infotech” program in 1999 as one of the pioneering and most
successful international M.Sc. programs in Germany. For several years now he is instrumental in establishing the German University in Cairo (GUC) where he is founding dean of the Faculty of Information Engineering and Technology since 2002. Paul Kühn complements his professional excellence and dedication with openness, friendliness and absolute integrity thus making his institute a well known and highly popular address for students, staff members, colleagues, cooperation partners and the numerous guests he hosts. On behalf of all former and current members of his institute, all colleagues, the whole teletraffic community and all his friends from around the globe we congratulate Prof. Kühn sincerely on his 65th birthday. We would like to thank him for all he did for us and wish him and his family all the best for the future. The guest editors feel very privileged to have him as academic teacher and scientific adviser. Erwin P. Rathgeb Computer Networking Technology Group, Institute for Experimental Mathematics, University Duisburg-Essen, Ellernstrasse 29, 45326 Essen, Germany E-mail address: [email protected] Phuoc Tran-Gia Department of Distributed Systems, Institute of Computer Science, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany