International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 55 (2012) 2211–2212

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International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhmt

In Celebration

A legend turns 80: Congratulations to Prof. Dr.-Ing. Erich Hahne

Imagine a man who has been editor of the International Journalof Heat and Mass Transfer for 50 years, who has graduated doctoral
students over a period of 45 years, whose best-selling textbook on
Technical Thermodynamics just went into its 5th edition, who isalmost daily in his university ofﬁce even 15 years into his ofﬁcial
retirement, a ﬁerce ﬁghter for high academic standards, a loyal
emeritus to his institute, a true gentleman, and, last but not least,
a caring family man and friend. If you do this, you will end up witha picture of Erich Hahne, who celebrated his 80th birthday on
February 2nd this year.
Over the years, he has made outstanding contributions to awide range of topics in the thermal sciences, ranging from thermophysical properties via boiling heat transfer to solar engineering.
This also sums up nicely the interesting mix of characteristic traits
with which he approached his professional life (and some say
private life as well, but I leave this judgement to his wife Ingeborg).
A true stickler for fundamental correctness, sometimes with a boiling temper, but overall with a sunny disposition.
He was borne in Athens, Greece, to where his father wasseconded for a period of years. His, for a German, unusual second
name ‘‘Perikles’’ originates from this time. Subsequently he grewup and studied in Munich, ﬁnally graduating with a doctorate indoi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2012.01.042

mechanical engineering under the guidance of heat transfer
pioneers Profs. E. Schmidt and Grigull. The title of his thesis was‘‘Heat Transfer by Natural Convection in Fluids Close to Their Thermodynamic Critical Point’’. Infected by ‘‘the heat transfer bug’’, hesubsequently accepted a position in the Technical University ofMunich, eventually rising to the position of ‘‘academic director’’.
Following a one-year NASA-funded research fellowship at CalTechin Pasadena, USA, he was appointed full professor and director ofthe Institute for Thermodynamics and Thermal Engineering (ITW)in the University of Stuttgart, in 1973.
For the University of Stuttgart, this appointment was a stroke ofluck as ITW ﬂourished under his leadership to develop into aninternationally highly respect research centre for phase change
heat transfer and solar engineering. Pioneering investigations on
central solar heating plants with seasonal storage and thefoundation of the Research and Testing Centre for Solar Systems
have ﬁrmly established the institute in the forefront of solar
research. To date, he has authored and co-authored close to 400
journals and conference papers.
Being a dedicated teacher he has taught a wide range ofundergraduate and postgraduate courses such as: technical thermodynamics (with up to 900 students in a single class!), heatand mass transfer, heat exchanger design, optimised energy
conversion, and solar energy technology.
He is well-known as a very active member of the international
heat transfer research community. Being one of the founding
members of the International Centre for Heat and Mass Transfer(since 1968 as German representative, later as a member of theScientiﬁc Council, and between 1978 and 1981 as chairman of
the Executive Committee), he was the recipient of the 20th
Anniversary ICHMT Award in 1988. He is still one of the Germandelegates in the Assembly for the International Heat Transfer
Conferences which he has served in many responsible positions.
He is an editor or co-editor of important international journals,
including the International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer(since 1966), the International Communications in Heat and MassTransfer (since 1974) and the Journal of Solar Energy (since1987). Accepting and enjoying the international nature of his profession, he has hosted many visiting scientists from all over theworld. As the University of Stuttgart liaison ofﬁcer for Chinese universities, he visited China several times and became an Honorary
Professor at the Shanghai Institute of Mechanical Engineering in1983.
In his private life, he is a devoted husband, father and grandfather, and an accomplished sportsman (tennis and skiing). He also
enjoys the theatre, ballroom dancing, and lately the pleasure andleisure of cruise ships.

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In Celebration / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 55 (2012) 2211–2212

In April 2000, he retired from his chair in the University ofStuttgart. However, not surprisingly for a person with his legendary vitality, his is not a restful retirement. He has maintained hisofﬁce at ITW to continue many of his activities including the supervision of doctoral students, the editorship of journals and theorganisation of conferences. Succeeding him as director of theInstitute for Thermodynamics and Thermal Engineering in the University of Stuttgart, Germany, was an honour and a challenge, andalways a pleasure and an inspiration. He never attempted to interfere with the directions I gave to ‘‘his’’ Institute, but was always
there when I needed his advice and support. For this wisdom andgenerosity I am deeply grateful.
On behalf of his many students, colleagues, and friends from allaround the world, including the editors of this journal, I wish him avery happy birthday, many more productive years, continued good
health, and happiness with his family and friends.

Prof. Hans Müller-Steinhagen(since 2010 Rector of Technische Universität Dresden) and all
members of the Institute for Thermodynamics and ThermalEngineering of the University of Stuttgart.
Klaus Spindler
Universität Stuttgart, Institut für Thermodynamik und Wärmetechnik(ITW), Pfaffenwaldring 6, D-70550 Stuttgart, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)711 685 63533; fax: +49 (0)711 685 63503.
E-mail address: spindler@itw.uni-stuttgart.de
Available online 15 February 2012