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We bid farewell to Prof. Dr. Gudrun Schmidt-Naake
On June 29, 2026, Prof. Dr. Gudrun Schmidt-Naake passed away in Dresden at the age of 83.
After earning her doctorate in 1970 and her habilitation in 1980 at the Technical University of Dresden, Professor Schmidt became the first woman to be appointed to a chair at the Technical University of Clausthal in 1994. The appointment coincided with the founding of the Institute of Technical Chemistry, which she headed until her retirement in 2011. During her tenure, she served as a member of the Senate of the Clausthal University of Technology and as dean of the department.
In her research, Prof. Schmidt (she used the name Schmidt-Naake only for publications) focused early on innovative methods for synthesizing membranes for fuel cells, the use of mechanochemical approaches for polymer modification, and various simulation techniques. Topics in synthetic polymer chemistry included, in particular, free-radical and controlled-radical copolymerizations as well as the use of ionic liquids. In her work, she always kept an eye on potential applications. She published 200 articles in scientific journals.
