Klaus Kinder-Geiger, a German particle physicist who had moved in 1996 from the CERN Theory Division to the Brookhaven National Laboratory, died in the recent crash of the Swissair 111 flight.
Klaus could best be described as unforgettable.
He excelled in theoretical physics as a productive and inspiring character in the field of heavy ion collisions but, in his case, this was just one of many aspects of his rich personality. Anyone having met Klaus, however briefly, would remember his superb humour and originality.
Every autumn the hundred-odd physicists present in the Theory Division gather for a 'two-minute meeting': an occasion for everyone to introduce her or himself, specifying scientific and other interests, plans, hobbies, suggestions and so on, all of it within the stated strict time limit. Of these thousands of brief descriptions, only one was truly memorable: the one in which Klaus found the time, after describing his research, to paralyse the whole session with bursts of laughter at his inimitable description of his sincere concern for the sexual life of cows.
Klaus' sympathy —in the sense of his capacity to communicate positively with anyone— had no bounds. It is with very great and sincere sorrow that his many friends at CERN have received the news of his untimely death.
Alvaro De Rujula
A message of condolence is being sent by the Director-General, on behalf of the CERN staff, to Klaus' family.