Egon Krause

In 1973 Prof. E. Krause took over the Chair of Fluid Mechanics and became the 5th Director of the Institute of Aerodynamics. After his studies at the RWTH Aachen University he went to the US funded by a NATO grant to receive a Master’s degree in 1962 from the Polytechnic Institute in Brooklyn and a PhD degree in 1966 from the University of New York. Before he accepted the call of the RWTH Aachen University, he was with the Deutsche Forschungs- und Versuchsanstalt für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DFVLR).

Although Prof. E. Krause was one of the driving factors in establishing the new research field of computational fluid dynamics, the rigorous comparison of experimental and numerical results was always the basis of his scientific vision. Among other programs, he initiated the Priority Research Program "Finite Approximations in Fluid Mechanics" and the Collaborative Research Center 253 "Fundamentals of the Design of Spacecraft", which was one of three successful joint collaborative research centers in supersonic fluid mechanics funded by DFG (German Research Association) in the late 80s. Together with Prof. Peyret from Nice he was the pioneer of a joint long-lasting DFG-CNRS (Centre National der Recherche Scientific) research initiative in the early 90s that brought together French and German engineers and mathematicians in the field of theoretical and computational fluid dynamics. International research was his passion. He not only supported strong scientific ties with Western Europe, the US, and Japan, but did also establish an intensive research exchange between Germany and Russia, especially with the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics in Novosibirsk. Due to his initiative the building of the Institute of Aerodynamics was enlarged in 1978. Besides other prizes, Prof. E. Krause was awarded the Prandtl-Ring in 2004. 

In July 1998 Prof. E. Krause became a professor emeritus. His scientific farewell party, which was held a couple of months later, was "sold out" within a few days. The guests who showed up from all over the world evidenced the excellent reputation he had within and across the borders of the fluid mechanics community. 

Professor Egon Krause passed away on 11 September 2025. With his death, the scientific field of fluid mechanics loses an outstanding researcher and RWTH loses a highly valued colleague.