Willibald Jentschke wins 1996 Tate Medal

About the Winner

Using his Viennese charm, Willibald succeeded in uniting a large number of physicists from different universities. On this basis he was able to raise government funding to support a big common project; an accelerator which would really be competitive on the international level. The result was the concept of the 7.5GeV “Deutschcs Elektronen-Synchorotron.”

One root of DESY’s success was Jentschke’s ability to attract the very best young researchers. In contrast to the stiff hierarchy of most German institutions, Jentschke offered the free atmosphere he had enjoyed in the United States, encouraging young people to develop their own initiatives. Jentschke’s international connections made DESY particularly attractive for young German physicists seeking contact with the outside world. DESY was also widely open to participant physicists from other countries and other continents.The international success of Jentschke’s DESY and his talent to mediate conflicting interests may have been the main reason why Jentschke was nominated Director General of CERN. He left DESY at the end of 1970 in order to take office at CERN for the following five years. Jentschke’s dearest goal at CERN. The same as at DESY, was the promotion of international collaboration among scientist. One result was that, under his directorate, the number visiting scientists working at CERN more than doubled within four years.