Obituary

We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of

the founder of the Institute of Communication Acoustics. Jens died in Berlin, surrounded by his family, as a result of a brief but serious illness. With his passing, we lose an outstanding scientist, a dedicated university professor, and a valued colleague who, over many decades, had a decisive influence on the development of acoustics, not only at Ruhr University Bochum but also internationally.

Jens Blauert was born in Hamburg in 1938. He studied communications engineering at RWTH Aachen University, where he earned his doctorate with distinction in 1969 with his thesis on “Investigations into directional hearing in the median plane with a fixed head.” After completing his habilitation at the Technical University of Berlin in 1973, he was appointed professor at Ruhr University Bochum in 1974. He subsequently founded the Institute for Communication Acoustics and led it with great dedication until 2003. In 1994, he was awarded an honorary doctorate (Dr. tech.) by Aalborg University in Denmark.

Jens’ scientific interests were wide-ranging. His contributions in the fields of binaural hearing and technology, room acoustics, virtual acoustics, and speech technology are outstanding. Early on he applied scientific findings from psychoacoustic research to practical applications. In addition to applications in speech recognition, speech synthesis, and perceptual system quality, he also had a particular interest in room and building acoustics. In this capacity, he served as a consulting engineer, designing the acoustics for many prominent buildings, including the state parliament building in North Rhine-Westphalia and lecture halls at universities.

At Ruhr University Bochum and far beyond, he has inspired many generations of students and doctoral candidates to pursue acoustics, psychoacoustics, and their numerous applications. He supervised more than 50 doctoral candidates, many of whom are now professors themselves, both in Germany and abroad. He shared his extensive knowledge in numerous books, including the standard work on the acoustics and psychoacoustics of spatial hearing: “Spatial Hearing – The Psychophysics of Human Sound Localization” (The MIT Press). As a university professor, he always placed great importance on the precise definitions of the terms used in the topics he addressed. Even after his emeritation, he remained closely connected to scientific work and the Institute for Communication Acoustics.

As a founding father of professional societies that are now firmly established, Jens Blauert made far-sighted and lasting contributions. Of particular note here are the German Acoustical Society (DEGA), the European Acoustics Association (EAA), and the European Speech Communication Association (ESCA, now ISCA). His work has been recognized with numerous awards: He is a Fellow of numerous professional societies in Germany and abroad, a recipient of the Helmholtz-Rayleigh Interdisciplinary Silver Medal from the Acoustical Society of America, the Helmholtz Medal from the DEGA, the EAA Lifetime Achievement Award, and an honorary member of the DEGA and the German Society for Audiology (DGA), to name just a few.

Jens Blauert was deeply committed to his field of work in every respect and enriched it through his many contributions. We owe him a debt of gratitude for his lasting legacy. His memory will live on within the Institute of Communication Acoustics, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, among his national and international colleagues, and among his many students.

Our deepest sympathies go out to his family and loved ones.

On behalf of all members of the Institute of Communication Acoustics

Rainer Martin