Mourning our colleague Stella Seitz

Enlarge

Dr Stella Seitz joined the University Observatory in 1998, after completing a PhD at the Max-Planck-Institute of Astrophysics, and became a pillar of our institution. She was an expert who laid down some of the very foundations of gravitational lensing and realized early on the potential of large sky surveys and modern AI methods in astrophysics. She was the initiator and champion of the astrophysics lab, which has provided hands on training for hundreds of students.

She was also a dedicated and passionate educator. She placed particular emphasis on always discussing issues directly with students in order to understand their point of view, accept it, but also revise it if necessary. Stella’s style of supervision encouraged her students to question all assumptions and enabled a string of them to have successful careers on their own. They, among them many of us at the institute, will carry forward Stella’s legacy as a scientist and teacher.

We send our condolences to Stella’s family and foremost professor Ralf Bender. It was a special fortune to have known Stella and to have done research with her. We miss her dearly.