[Neutron] In memorian of Tasso Springer

[Jürgen Neuhaus]

Dear colleagues and friends.	

With great sadness we would like to inform you that Professor Dr. Tasso 
Springer has recently passed away at the age of 86. He started his 
scientific career as one of the first students of Heinz Maier-Leibnitz, 
in whose honour the FRM II and MLZ are named. Together with his mentor, 
he discovered and developed the principle of neutron guides at the 
research reactor FRM in Garching near Munich (so called atomic egg).
After completing his diploma and doctoral thesis under the guidance of 
Maier-Leibnitz, Tasso Springer habilitated at the Technical University 
Munich and was appointed professor of experimental physics in 1961. At 
the age of only 33, he accepted an invitation from Jülich and became one 
of the first directors of the Institute for Solid State Research and 
Neutron Physics. Following a period as an honorary professor in Bonn, 
Tasso Springer became full professor of experimental physics at RWTH 
Aachen University. From 1977 to 1982, he continued the tradition of 
German directors at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France. On 
his return to Jülich he resumed his position as Director of the 
Laboratory for Neutron Scattering at the Institute of Solid State 
Research and was strongly committed to the expansion of the DIDO reactor 
with the neutron guide hall ELLA. He continued in Jülich until his 
retirement in 1996. In his later years Tasso Springer lived in 
Gräfelfing in the south of Munich. He died on the 2nd of March after a 
short illness, surrounded by his family.

In 1992 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit first class. He also 
founded the German neutron research committee and was a member of 
numerous other committees.

The FRM II owes Tasso Springer a great debt of gratitude, from his 
significant impact on the development of neutron methods, via his 
involvement in the scientific council and as an advisor to the Bavarian 
state government, advocating a powerful German neutron source at the TU 
Munich, through to his position as chairman of the scientific advisory 
board during the construction phase of the FRM II.

On behalf of the MLZ directorate
Jürgen Neuhaus

-- 
Dr. Jürgen Neuhaus
Forschungs-Neutronenquelle Heinz Maier-Leibnitz
Technische Universität München
D-85747 Garching
Tel: +49 89 289 12187
Fax: +49 89 289 14995
www.frm2.tum.de
www.mlz-garching.de