Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Paul Kleihues (1936, May 21, to 2022, March 17)
The Comprehensive Cancer Center Freiburg – CCCF mourns the passing of its founding director, Prof. Paul Kleihues, on March 17, 2022.
29.03.2022
Prof. Kleihues was born on May 21, 1936, in Rheine, Westphalia. He studied medicine at the Universities of Münster, Munich, Hamburg, and Pavia (Italy). After passing the state examination in 1961, he received his MD degree from the University of Münster in 1962. In 1964 he received his medical license. From 1964 to 1976 he was a research assistant at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Cologne with Professor Zülch. In 1972 he habilitated in neuropathology at the University of Cologne. From 1976 to 1983 he was professor of neuropathology and head of the Institute of Neuropathology at the University of Freiburg’s Department of Pathology. In 1983 he was appointed professor for neuropathology at the University of Zurich, Switzerland (until 2001). From 1992 to 1993 he was director of the Institute of Neuropathology at the University of Zurich and from 1994 to 2003 director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Lyon, France. From 2004 to 2006 he held the position of founding director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center, Freiburg. From 2005 to 2006 he was a fellow of the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin and from 2006 to 2007 a visiting scientist at the Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute (NIH/NCI), Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Because of his outstanding scientific contributions to the etiology, pathogenesis, and epidemiology of cancer with a special focus on various brain tumors, providing the basis for almost 300 scientific publications, Professor Kleihues has received a large number of scientific awards and other honors. The Zülch Prize for basic research in neurology, the gold medal of the French Cancer League, the Clinical Research Prize of the Federation of European Cancer Societies, and elections to the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Swiss Academy for Medical Sciences should be mentioned in this context.
In addition to these scientific achievements, Professor Kleihues has acquired a highly recognized international reputation in the field of science management. In the years 2004 to 2006, the Medical Faculty, University of Freiburg, and the Medical Center – University of Freiburg in particular benefited from these pronounced skills. During this period, Professor Kleihues made a key contribution to the establishment of the Comprehensive Cancer Center Freiburg – CCCF as its founding director. He has always acted as a sovereign integrator and understood very well how to combine the different specialist disciplines in the CCCF into synergistic activities. The establishment of strong basic, translational, and clinical research at the CCCF was his major concern. Particularly noteworthy are his successful efforts to make the developments in the CCCF transparent to a broader scientific and general public at the national and international level. These efforts ultimately resulted in the designation of the Comprehensive Cancer Center Freiburg – CCCF as one of the first four Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Excellence of the German Cancer Aid (Deutsche Krebshilfe, DKH).
We honor his memory as the founding director of the CCCF and as a nationally and internationally recognized physician scientist..
Freiburg, March 2022
Prof. Dr. Stefan Fichtner-Feigl, Prof. Dr. Justus Duyster, Prof. Dr. Christoph Peters
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