Prof. em. Dr. Thomas Leisinger

From 1980 to 2001 Thomas Leisinger was Full Professor of Microbiology at the Institute of Microbiology at the ETH Zurich. He retired 1 October, 2001.

Born on July 31, 1936, from Davos, Thomas. Leisinger studied in the Department of Agriculture and graduated in the area of agrotechnology. He subsequently did his Ph.D. work under Prof. L. Ettlinger at the ETH Zurich Institute of Microbiology. Two years as assistant followed, and then a postdoctoral stay on a Swiss National Science Foundation grant at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, and at Columbia University in New York, NY. His habilitation and his appointment as associate professor followed his return to the Institute of Microbiology in 1969; he was named full Professor of Microbiology in 1980. The central theme of his research was the large variety of degradative phathways for organic compounds and the maintenance of the carbon cycle in nature. Here his focus was on the characterization of microbial dehalogenation and desulfonation reactions, which play a key role in the mineralization of xenobiotics.

In addition to research and teaching, Thomas Leisinger was active as an expert in his field; as a member of the editorial boards of various international publications; and as a member of commissions. From 1989 to 1998 he was Chairman of the Faculty of Biology at the ETH Zurich.