The Faculty of Technical Chemistry and the Vienna University of Technology mourn the loss of former Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Peter Krenmayr, who passed away on December 30, 2022.

The Faculty of Technical Chemistry was saddened to learn of the passing of our colleague Prof. Peter Krenmayr on December 30, 2022. He was closely associated with TU Wien throughout his entire educational and professional career. Peter Krenmayr was born in 1932 in Lungau and completed his secondary school years in St. Peter in Salzburg. After graduating from high school in 1950, he studied technical chemistry at the Vienna University of Technology. Both his diploma thesis (1958) and his subsequent dissertation (1992) dealt with physical-chemical topics (reaction of ammonia with silver ions and thermodynamics and kinetics of nitrosyl ions).

In 1967, the Institute of General Chemistry was established at the Vienna University of Technology and Peter Krenmayr, as a founding member, was heavily involved in its development as well as the planning and design of the new premises. It was at this institute that he found the subject that was to determine his future scientific career: mass spectrometry. He took over the management of the corresponding working group and, in addition to providing services for other institutes, carried out numerous independent research projects, which also led to his habilitation in 1976 “On the structure of metastable ions in the mass spectrometer”. Peter Krenmayr was appointed associate professor in 1977 and in 1985 was appointed head of what was then called the “Department of Mass Spectrometry”. In the years leading up to his retirement in 1992, his work increasingly expanded from basic topics to analytical issues in various fields of application. Among other things, his mass spectrometric measurements dealt with metabolites in plant extracts and medically oriented questions on metabolic products, as well as the trace analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as potential carcinogens. He also shared a passion for analyzing archaeological samples with some of his colleagues at the time. At the end of his active service, Peter Krenmayr took over the management of the then Institute of General Chemistry for two years.

In addition to academic research, Prof. Krenmayr was particularly interested in university didactics and the associated relationship with people. He was also particularly committed to the training of teacher trainees.

Outside of his professional life, Prof. Krenmayr was always very interested in culture, art and music and undertook numerous trips, often involving daring mountain hikes. He leaves behind a family with two daughters and four grandchildren.

TU Wien will remember him fondly.

Jürgen Fleig, Marko Mihovilovic