Obituary

07/23/2025

Mourning The Loss of “Mister FZI”

Founding board member Professor Peter C. Lockemann has passed away

With his glasses perched on the tip of his nose and his bright blue eyes always full of energy, Professor Peter Lockemann was a familiar sight not only at the FZI. He was passionate about computer science and the transfer of knowledge and technology. As Executive Director, he steered the FZI to success in its first 20 years and shaped our transfer organisation as Scientific Director. A pioneer in business informatics, he was passionate about researching database technology and business information systems. He passed away on Monday at the age of 89.

“We are deeply saddened to say goodbye to Peter Lockemann, an extraordinary man whose influence on our work and self-perception was profound. He laid the foundation for what defines us as FZI: a focus on application and collaboration across disciplines, and a mission to transfer knowledge and technology. We have lost a visionary, a creator, and a passionate colleague whose wise and clear words will be sorely missed,” said FZI Executive Director Jan Wiesenberger, paying tribute to the institute’s co-founder.

Pioneer of applied computer science

As one of the first German computer science professors, Peter Lockemann was a founding member of the first German computer science faculty in 1972. At the University of Karlsruhe, now the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, he was Dean of the Faculty of Computer Science and headed the Institute for Program Structures and Data Organization (IPD) there until his retirement.

In the early 1980s, the young discipline of computer science encountered great demand from industry, with computer science for industrial production being particularly sought after. The idea of founding a non-university research and transfer center for IT applications thus fell on fertile ground in 1984. It gave the starting signal for establishing a Research Center for Information Technology (FZI).

A stroke of luck for the FZI

“In retrospect, it was fortunate that eight professors came together in 1984 to pursue the FZI’s goals with idealism,” Peter Lockemann stated about the beginnings of the FZI. Alongside him, Gerhard Goos, Klaus Bender, Hans Grabowski, Ulrich Rembold, Detlef Schmid, Gerhard Schweizer, and Werner Zorn laid the foundations for our non-profit research institution. The FZI became independent in 1985 and celebrated its 40th anniversary this year.
As a visionary and a man of action, Peter Lockemann set the course for the FZI in its first two decades. From 1985 to 2005, he led the institution as Executive Director, earning him the nickname “Mister FZI”. He was driven by innovation, and for him, this meant transferring research results into commercial applications.

Lived interdisciplinarity for successful technology transfer

“I have been shaped by my practical experience and have always sought it out. Later on, this mainly involved production engineering, electronics design, transportation, and building architecture. That’s why I’ve always worked in a highly interdisciplinary manner. I never saw myself as a pure technologist,” said Peter Lockemann about himself.

Application orientation through active interdisciplinary cooperation has shaped the FZI since its foundation 40 years ago. Not only did the founding fathers around Peter Lockemann come from all areas of computer science, but mechanical engineers and electrical engineers were already part of the team. This interdisciplinarity is still part of the FZI’s recipe for success today. Today, 27 professors from numerous disciplines are committed to knowledge and technology transfer on the Board of Scientific Directors.

His life's work lives on

Peter Lockemann’s passion in applied research was devoted to the development of databases and large, distributed, cooperating information systems. In addition to his research work, he enriched the discipline of computer science with four textbook publications and over 100 scientific articles. Seven of his students have been appointed university professors, and more have been awarded professorships at a technical university. He supervised over 50 doctoral theses, many of them during his time as Director at the FZI – entirely in line with the FZI’s goal of ‘knowledge and competence transfer via minds’, which he helped to shape.

Outstanding achievements for the common good and for computer science

Peter Lockemann has received numerous honours and awards in recognition of his commitment to computer science. In 2003, Goethe University Frankfurt awarded him an honorary doctorate in recognition of his contributions to research and his promotion of knowledge transfer to business practice. In 2005, he was awarded the Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by Federal President Horst Köhler. The Minister President of Baden-Württemberg, Günther Oettinger, thanked him for his ‘outstanding services to the common good’. In 2011, Michael Flor, who was Executive Director of the FZI at the time, honoured him with the title of ‘Scientific Director Emeritus’ in recognition of his distinguished contribution to the FZI. Peter Lockemann remained committed to knowledge and technology transfer until the end of his life. His work in science and research will live on beyond his lifetime.