Obituary

                                                               Anton Leendert German

Anton Leendert (Ton) German was born on the first of February 1939 in Alphen aan den Rijn. He obtained his HBS-B diploma at the Lyceum in Steenwijk and then studied chemical technology at the Eindhoven University of Technology where he obtained his masters diploma Cum Laude in 1964. He was awarded the Unilever Chemistry award in that same year. In 1970, he completed his PhD with the dissertation ”The Copolymerization of Ethylene and Vinylacetate at low Pressure; Determination of the Kinetics by Sequential Sampling” under the supervision of Prof. Dr. D. Heikens. From 1964 onward, he continued his career at the TU/e, where he was appointed as lector in 1974, later followed by full professor. From 1971 to 1972 he served as associate professor of Chemistry at the Baylor College of Medicine of the Texas Medical Centre. It was there that his interest in the United States was raised, leading to many future trips to the US.

In 1987, Ton German founded the Foundation Emulsion Polymerization (SEP) together with Jos van der Loos. As one of the first initiatives in its kind, this successful multi-sponsored industrial liaison program brought together companies active in the field of emulsion polymerization and facilitated research in that field through PhD projects. In 2000 SEP consisted of more than 20 companies like BASF, AKZO-NOBEL, Dupont, Rohm and Haas and ICI. The program also facilitated many PhD projects.

Ton German was a key figure in developing knowledge in the area of radical polymerization, copolymerization, emulsion polymerization and on-line sampling and he started the work on vesicle polymerization. In total Ton German acted as 1st promotor for almost 40 PhD students and guided many more bachelor and master students. One of his strengths was disseminating his knowledge in a very clear way, not only at the many scientific conferences he attended, but also in his teaching, inspiring many of his staff and students. He organized several conferences, like the Irsee, Germany 1992 Gordon Research Conference on Polymer Colloids and in June 2001, together with Michael Buback, the SML conference in “Free Radical Polymerization, Kinetics and Mechanism” in Il Ciocco, Barga, Italy. In 2000 he was part of the First European Graduate School on “Microstructural Control in Free Radical Polymerization”, TU/e together with the University of Amsterdam, the Technical University Clausthal and The University of Göttingen.

Ton German was very active in the IPCG community, attending many of the Gordon Conferences from the nineteen eighties till 2000. He retired in 2001 and happily spending his retirement with traveling, his children and grandchildren.

Ton German died on the 20th of January 2026.

Ton German is survived by his partner Gerda, his two children and four grandchildren.