Paul Busch (1955-2018)

Paul Busch, born February 2, 1955, passed away June 9, 2018, after a short illness. He studied physics, mathematics and philosophy at the University of Cologne, where he received his doctorate in theoretical physics in 1982. His research interests focused on the foundations of quantum phyiscs and quantum information, in particular, the quantum theory of measurement, quantum theory and relativity, the theory of positive operator valued (POV) measures and the notion of unsharp quantum reality. He held post doctoral research positions at the University of Cologne, where he worked with Peter Mittelstaedt, and the Max Planck Intitute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen. He was appointed University Docent in Theoretical Physics in Cologne in 1988, and was awarded the title of Professor there in 1994. He held appointments as visiting professor and research scholar at a number of institutions including Florida Atlantic University (1986), the University of Heidelberg (in Philosophy, 1994), Harvard University (hosted by Roy Glauber, Lyman Laboratory of Physics, 1994/5), and the Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics (2005-2007). He also held an adjunct ​professorship​ at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Turku. He was professor​ of​ mathematical physics at the University of Hull and was Head of Department there from 2002 before joining the University of York in 2005. He was one of the editors of the “Foundations of Physics” journal and co-editor of the Springer monograph series "Fundamental Theories of Physics". He has published over 90 papers and is co-author of two monographs, The Quantum Theory of Measurement (Springer 1991/96) and Operational Quantum Physics(1995/97) (see http://paulbusch.wixsite.com/research-page and his CV there). He was elected Member of the Académie Internationale de Philosophie des Sciences  in 2008, and Member of the Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi) in 2015. He has been awarded a Royal Society Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship (2017/18), and from 2016-2018, he was President of the International Quantum Structures Association.​(Brigitte Falkenburg)