Mayor Lee Kang-deok Mourns the Passing of Pohang Honorary Citizen Director Peter Pulde

Honorary Director of Germany's Max Planck Institute for Complex Systems Passes Away on 12th

Recognized as Honorary Citizen for Bridging Pohang and Dresden

Mayor Lee: "His Passion for Science Will Inspire Multiple Generations"

On the 12th, Pohang City announced the passing of Peter Fulde (88), Honorary Director of the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems in Germany, who was selected as an honorary citizen.

In 2016, Peter Pulde, Honorary Director, visited Pohang City Hall and had a conversation with Mayor Lee Kang-deok.

Peter Fulde served as the 3rd and 4th Director of the Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics from 2007 to 2013, and has been serving as a director of the Max Planck Korea/POSTECH Center (MPK) since 2011. He was a world-renowned scholar who made significant contributions to the advancement of basic science.

Whenever Peter Fulde visited Korea, he never forgot to visit Pohang, and played a role as a business platform through the opening of the Korea-Germany Innovation Center between Dresden, Germany, and Pohang City.

In addition to science and business, he expanded his activities into various fields and helped build Korea-Germany exchange networks, greatly contributing to the economic development direction of Pohang City. Due to these achievements, he was selected as an honorary citizen of Pohang City in 2016.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok commemorated Peter Fulde, honoring his great contributions not only to the development of the Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics and the Max Planck Korea/POSTECH Center but also to Pohang City and the advancement of basic science in the Republic of Korea.

The mayor said, “Peter Fulde’s pioneering insight and passion were sufficient to provide vision and motivation to the scientific community, and his legacy will inspire many generations to come,” and sent a letter of condolence to the bereaved family.

The Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics at Pohang University of Science and Technology is the first and only international theoretical physics research institute in Korea, established in June 1996. Currently, its member countries include 18 nations: Korea, Taiwan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Vietnam, Singapore, Uzbekistan, India, Japan, China, Kazakhstan, Canada, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, Kyrgyzstan, and Indonesia, with ongoing expansion of its regional scope.

Furthermore, the Max Planck Korea/POSTECH Center was established in October 2011 based on close cooperation with the Max Planck Society (MPI) in Germany to secure fundamental and original technologies in the materials field through world-class research.

Currently, through the operation of the Complex Materials Research Center, Attosecond Science, and XFEL Quantum Research Center, the center is making continuous efforts to grow into a small but strong world-class research institute in the field of materials basic research.