Description

Klaus Muellen, born in Cologne in 1947, is what locals proudly call a “true kölsche Boy”—someone deeply shaped by his hometown. As a young student, he discovered the world of delocalized electron systems; his doctoral work in Switzerland triggered his love for spectroscopic methods. After academic wanderings along the Rhine, he eventually turned to macromolecules at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz.

His journey led from dendrimers and organic nanoparticles to graphene nanoribbons and nanodiscs—the chemist became a materials scientist.

His molecules are record-breaking in size, as is the number of his collaborations, publications, and students/postdocs he mentored. His captivating lectures earned him countless invitations and numerous awards.

In addition to research and teaching, Klaus Muellen has taken on many supporting roles in the scientific community: as a Max Planck Director, as President of the German Chemical Society (GDCh) and the Society of German Natural Scientists and Physicians (GDNÄ), and as an editor of books and journals. In each role, he embraced the challenge with intellectual rigor, joy, and a strong sense of purpose—always ready to shape research policy, to foster scientific institutions, and to help individual scientists.