Our colleague and friend Univ.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. techn. Friedrich Bauer passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on February 25, 2021.
Fritz Bauer completed his studies in biochemistry and food chemistry in 1977 and received his doctorate in 1982. He began his scientific career in 1978 at the Institute of Meat Hygiene at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna. He not only remained at this institute until his retirement, but was also involved in teaching and research until the end. He was also a university lecturer in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Vienna for many years.
His scientific interests covered a broad spectrum of food chemistry. While his early work dealt with detection methods for food ingredients and additives, his interest soon turned to animal species identification in meat products, on which he also wrote his habilitation thesis in 1992. He was able to carry out essential work on this topic during a research year 1986-1987 at the Federal Institute for Meat Research in Kulmbach (Germany). The friendships he made there outlasted the years.
In the following decades, he researched the formation of protein degradation products - "biogenic amines" - in food, which are important as indicators of freshness or spoilage of food, but can also cause health problems. Numerous publications, presentations and supervised dissertations, as well as his involvement in two EU projects, bear witness to his great enthusiasm for this field of research to the end, whereby he played a key role in linking the perspectives of food hygiene and physiology.
The second major area of research was the study of fat oxidation in food, with a focus on pro-oxidative factors. He not only researched the antioxidant effect of curing, but also imparted this knowledge to many students.
His work as a food expert (since 1993) and since 2000 as a member of the commission for the publication of the food book, chairman of the sub-commission "Meat and Meat Products", as a member of the board and advisory board of scientific societies has made him an expert in all facets of meat science and economics. His network of professional acquaintances and genuine friendships extended far beyond Austria. He also served as a delegate of the European Association for Chemical and Molecular Science and as Chairman of the Food Chemistry Section of the "Liaison Center for the Meat Processing Industry in the EU" (CITRAVI).
His expertise was also valued by the German Agricultural Society (DLG), which appointed him as the first Austrian to be appointed scientific director of the DLG quality test for the cooked sausage and ham product group and awarded him a medal of honor in 2012. His eye for the essentials, his level-headedness and modesty set him apart.
In all these years, Fritz Bauer was an exemplary and unselfish mentor, trained many students, undergraduates and doctoral candidates, gave them a profound understanding and was known to us all as a colleague who was always ready to help. We will miss him as a friend and colleague.
Our sympathy also goes out to his family, from whose midst he was suddenly torn. The wish "ad multos annos" expressed on the occasion of his passing has unfortunately not come true. All the more reason for us to do our utmost to honor his memory.
Text by Gabriele Flekna, Friederike Hilbert, Peter Paulsen on behalf of all colleagues.
Link to VetDoc: CV, publications, presentations, supervised theses by Friedrich Bauer
