Prof. Dr. phil. Dr.-Ing.E.h. Dr.-Ing. h.c. Adolf Birkhofer
Technical University Munich (TUM)
Adolf Birkhofer was born in Munich in 1934. He studied Electrical Engineering at the Institute of Technology, Munich (TH), and Theoretical Physics at the University of Innsbruck. After industrial activities he established the Laboratory for Reactor Control and Reactor Safety of the Technical University of Munich, where he was engaged especially in the research on reactor dynamics (Habilitation in 1967). In 1971 he was appointed to the chair of Reactor Dynamics and Reactor Safety at the Technical University of Munich and 1975 appointed as full professor. From 1977 till 2002 he was also managing director of the Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS), the main German research and expert organization in the field of nuclear safety.
A. Birkhofer was member and former chairman of the International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group (INSAG) to the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he was special adviser to the Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation (OECD). He is chairman of the Nuclear Energy Safety Council of the President of the Republic of Armenia. He was former chairman of the German Reactor Safety Commission (RSK). He is member and former chairman of the Safety Review Group (SRG) of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). He was member and former chairman of the Scientific and Technical Committee of the EU (STC), he was member of the Conseil Scientifique of Electricité de France (EDF). He is member of the board of the ”German Atomforum e.V.”.
Awards/Honours:
Otto Hahn Award of the City of Frankfurt (1976), Honorary Doctorate by the University of Karlsruhe (1983), ANS Fellow (1983), Wilhelm Exner Medal (1984), Cross of Merit 1. Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (1987), Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur (1987), Order of Merit of the State of Bavaria (1988), Tommy Thompson Award of the Nuclear Reactor Safety Division of the American Nuclear Society (1989), Aachen-Münchener Award for Technology and Applied Science (1993), Honorary member of the German Nuclear Society (KTG 1993), Honorary Fellow of the European Nuclear Society (ENS 1994), Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (1994), Honorary Doctorate by the RWZ Kurchatov Institute (1998), Bavarian Order “Maximiliansorden” for Science and Arts (2001), Commandeur de l’Ordre des Palmes Academiques (2007).