It is with great sadness that I share the news that Werner H. Baur
peacefully passed away at home on Saturday, November 1, 2025, at the age
of 94 with his wife, Renate, at his side. Werner was a pioneer in
crystal chemistry with a focus on chemical bonding. He published more
than 180 papers on this topic in scientific journals and 8 books on
zeolites in the Landolt-Börnstein series on zeolite-type structures.
Just his publication on the geometry of polyhedral distortions in
phosphate groups has been cited more than 1200 times. His deep interest
in historical aspects is documented in his personal view on one hundred
years of inorganic crystal chemistry published in Crystallography
Reviews. Werner was born in Warsaw in 1931. He moved to Göttingen at a
young age where he went to school and studied mineralogy and
crystallography at university. In 1962 he went to Brookhaven National
Laboratory where he was Associate Chemist in the Department of
Chemistry. In 1963, he became an Assistant Professor at the Department
of Earth and Planetary Sciences at University of Pittsburgh. From 1968
to 1986 he was a Professor of Geological Sciences at University of
Illinois, Chicago, and from 1986 to 1996 Professor of Crystallography
and Mineralogy at University of Frankfurt, Germany. Then he returned to
the United States, staying scientifically active until he passed away.
We will always keep him in our memories.

Reinhard X. Fischer

--
Prof. Dr. Reinhard X. Fischer
Fachbereich Geowissenschaften
der Universität
Klagenfurter Straße 2
28359 Bremen
Tel. (421) 218-65164
FAX  (421) 218-65189
Sek. (421) 218-65161

I was an chemistry major at the University of Illinois in Chicago in 1968
when I took crystallography and mineralogy courses from Werner. I ended up
working for him in his lab as an undergraduate and then got my masters
under his tutelage. He inspired me to follow a fulfilling career path that
that continues to this day and which has given me tremendous joy. I will
miss him greatly.

Tony

Anthony R. Kampf, Ph.D.

Curator Emeritus, Mineral Sciences

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90007

Phone: 213-763-3328; Email: akampf@nhm.org

From: Reinhard Fischer via MSA-talk msa-talk@minlists.org
Sent: Monday, November 3, 2025 9:14 AM
To: msa-talk@minlists.org
Subject: [MSA-talk] Werner H. Baur, 1931 - 2025

It is with great sadness that I share the news that Werner H. Baur
peacefully passed away at home on Saturday, November 1, 2025, at the age of
94 with his wife, Renate, at his side. Werner was a pioneer in crystal
chemistry with a focus on chemical

It is with great sadness that I share the news that Werner H. Baur
peacefully passed away at home on Saturday, November 1, 2025, at the age of
94 with his wife, Renate, at his side. Werner was a pioneer in crystal
chemistry with a focus on chemical bonding. He published more than 180
papers on this topic in scientific journals and 8 books on zeolites in the
Landolt-Börnstein series on zeolite-type structures. Just his publication
on the geometry of polyhedral distortions in phosphate groups has been
cited more than 1200 times. His deep interest in historical aspects is
documented in his personal view on one hundred years of inorganic crystal
chemistry published in Crystallography Reviews. Werner was born in Warsaw
in 1931. He moved to Göttingen at a young age where he went to school and
studied mineralogy and crystallography at university. In 1962 he went to
Brookhaven National Laboratory where he was Associate Chemist in the
Department of Chemistry. In 1963, he became an Assistant Professor at the
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at University of Pittsburgh.
From 1968 to 1986 he was a Professor of Geological Sciences at University
of Illinois, Chicago, and from 1986 to 1996 Professor of Crystallography
and Mineralogy at University of Frankfurt, Germany. Then he returned to the
United States, staying scientifically active until he passed away. We will
always keep him in our memories.

Reinhard X. Fischer

--

Prof. Dr. Reinhard X. Fischer

Fachbereich Geowissenschaften

der Universität

Klagenfurter Straße 2

28359 Bremen

Tel. (421) 218-65164

FAX  (421) 218-65189

Sek. (421) 218-65161