Prof. em. Dr. rer. nat. Karl Decker

Mourning for Professor Karl Decker

The former Director of Biochemistry II has died at the age of 99.

Prof. Dr. Karl Decker passed away on April 3, 2024, at the age of 99. We mourn the loss of an outstanding scientist, academic teacher and wonderful person.

Karl Decker was Director of the Department of Biochemistry II at our Institute from 1968 to 1993 and made fundamental contributions to metabolism research and inflammatory processes in the liver. He was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Vice-Rector for Research at the University of Freiburg, Senator of the German Research Foundation, Senator of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and President of the Society for Biological Chemistry (now Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology). He has received numerous honors, including the Lucie Bolte Prize, the Heinrich Wieland Medal in Gold and the Cothenius Medal in Gold of the German Academy of Sciences. Many of his students were appointed to professorships. After his retirement, Karl Decker remained closely associated with the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

The colleagues at the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology will always remember Karl Decker fondly as an outstanding researcher and warm-hearted, dedicated and selfless colleague and mentor.