Family Affair
Günther Laukien, founder of Bruker Physik AG, posthumously receives 2013 Pittcon Heritage Award.
‘Twas the night before Pittcon, when Frank Laukien, president, CEO and chairman of Bruker Corporation, accompanied by his daughter, stepped up on stage to receive the Pittcon Heritage Award on behalf of his father, demonstrating that the German giant is still very much a family affair.
Günther Laukien (1924 – 1997) was recognised for “delivering potent new research tools through his pioneering advancement and globalization of NMR and other important analytical technologies”. Indeed, beyond NMR, Bruker’s worldwide growth through the 1970s allowed them to expand into mass spectrometry – technology that dominated Pittcon press releases from Bruker and competitors alike.
Günther Laukien is the latest in a line of prestigious inductees into the Pittcon Hall of Fame, which includes: Genzo Shimadzu Sr. and Jr. (2012), for their early innovations at Shimadzu; George and John Hatsopoulos and Arvin Smith (2011) for their parts in the meteoric rise of Thermo Electron; Walter Jennings (2010) for his work in gas chromatography, later to the benefit of Agilent Technologies; and Alfred Bader (2009) for establishing the Aldrich Chemical Company. Amgen, Bio-Rad, Horiba, Perkin-Elmer… Going back through the last 11 years, the winners of the Pittcon Heritage Award put context behind many of the analytical powerhouses we know today.
Rich Whitworth completed his studies in medical biochemistry at the University of Leicester, UK, in 1998. To cut a long story short, he escaped to Tokyo to spend five years working for the largest English language publisher in Japan. "Carving out a career in the megalopolis that is Tokyo changed my outlook forever. When seeing life through such a kaleidoscopic lens, it's hard not to get truly caught up in the moment." On returning to the UK, after a few false starts with grey, corporate publishers, Rich was snapped up by Texere Publishing, where he spearheaded the editorial development of The Analytical Scientist. "I feel honored to be part of the close-knit team that forged The Analytical Scientist – we've created a very fresh and forward-thinking publication." Rich is now also Content Director of Texere Publishing, the company behind The Analytical Scientist.
