Nuclear power is currently shaping the energy debate worldwide. Willibald Jentschke is one of the researchers behind nuclear fission and neutral currents. After studying physics in Vienna and holding a professorship at the University of Illinois, the nuclear and particle physicist went to the University of Hamburg and helped found the German Electron Synchrotron, DESY. With this research center, he laid the foundation for an international research network of more than 3,400 scientists from about 35 countries. For several years he headed the II Institute for Experimental Physics at the University of Hamburg, followed by CERN in Geneva. His work contributed to the further development of electron accelerators, which are used in industry for non-destructive materials testing.
Willibald Jentschke has received international recognition, including the Austrian Decoration of Honor for Science and Art (1983) and the John T. Tate Award of the American Institute of Physics (1996).