Wolfgang Wild (physicist)

Wolfgang Wild (20 September 1930 – 7 April 2023) was a German nuclear physicist, academic administrator and politician. He was President of the Technical University of Munich between 1980 and 1986 and Bavarian Minister of Science between 1986 and 1989.^[1]

Wolfgang Wild
1st Bavarian Minister of Science
In office 1986–1989
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Hans Zehetmair
2nd President of the Technical University of Munich
In office 1980–1986
Preceded by	Ulrich Grigull
Succeeded by	Herbert Kupfer
Personal details
Born	(1930-09-20)20 September 1930 Bayreuth, Bavaria, Germany
Died	7 April 2023(2023-04-07) (aged 92) Zorneding, Bavaria, Germany
Education	Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Scientific career
Thesis	Tröpfchenmodell des Atomkerns und Zweikörperkräfte  (1955)

Early life and career

Wild was born on 20 September 1930.^[2] He studied physics at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. After receiving his doctorate in 1955, he first worked as an assistant to Heinz Maier-Leibnitz at the Technical University of Munich. In 1957 he moved to Heidelberg University, where he investigated atomic nuclei with J. Hans D. Jensen, who later won the Nobel Prize.

His habilitation in 1960 was followed the following year by an associate professorship at the Free University of Berlin. In November of the same year, he took over the Chair of Theoretical Physics at the Department of Physics of the Technical University of Munich.^[1]

Political career

After the 1986 Bavarian state election, Franz Josef Strauss appointed Wild the first Bavarian Minister of Science.

Death

Wild died on 7 April 2023, at the age of 92.^[3]

Awards

• Bavarian Order of Merit
• Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1st class