Gunter B. Kohlhaw

Gunter B. Kohlhaw, Professor Emeritus at Purdue University, was born May 5, 1931, in the city of Elbing in what was then the Province of East Prussia in Germany. He attended school in his home- town and, after war-caused relocation in 1945, in the Province of Schleswig-Holstein. After graduating with honors from high school in 1951, he was accepted into a management training program at the Bayer Pharmaceutical Company headquarters in Leverkusen in western Germany. While he did complete the program, his experience at Bayer had kindled an interest in the natural sciences, and so he subsequently enrolled in the Pharmacy curriculum of Freiburg University in southern Germany, graduating with the equivalent of a Master’s degree in Pharmacy in 1959. He then became a graduate student at the university’s Institute of Biochemistry, earning his PhD degree, summa cum laude, in 1962. He spent his first two post-doctoral years as a Research and Teaching ·-Assistant in Biochemistry at Freiburg University Medical School. In 1964, he was awarded a NATO Fellowship for further post-doctoral work at the Department of Biological Sciences of Purdue University. In 1966, he accepted an offer to join Purdue’s Department of Biochemistry, College of Agriculture, as Assistant Professor, moving through the ranks to Full Professor within the next seven years. On October 24, 1972, both he and his wife became naturalized United States citizens. At Purdue, Professor Kohlhaw conducted a vigorous research program focusing on enzyme regulation and eukaryotic gene expression and taught courses at all levels. Between 1983 and 1993, he administered the Departmental Undergraduate Program. From 1994 to 1998, he also served as Adjunct Professor of Biochemistry at the Indiana University Medical School. He became Professor Emeritus in 1999. Professor Kohlhaw was an elected member of the German Society for Physiological Chemistry and a member of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Other honors include his being elected as a Fellow of the Advanced Studies Foundation of the German People (“Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes”) and service in Study Sections of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

Professor Kohlhaw married his beloved wife Ellen (nee Bull) in 1959, Ellen preceded him in death
on March 24, 2018. He is survived by his sister, Rita Holler; niece, Heike Holler; grandniece, Mareike Holler; and sister-in-law, Brigitte Bull, all residing in Germany. Professor Kohlhaw and his wife were members of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Lafayette since 1964. He was also active in his local Northwestern Heights Neighborhood Association and was a long-time supporter of the Tree Program of the City of West Lafayette by the late Helen Lillich.

No services will be held at this time.