With great sadness IRAM has learned about the sudden passing of Prof. Dr. Karl Martin Menten, Max-Planck-Institute for Radio Astronomy.

Karl Menten has started his very prolific science carrier studying Physics at University of Bonn and then doing his PhD at the Max-Plank-Institute for Radio Astronomy there. After his PhD he joined the Harvard CFA, where he made ground breaking progress in the use of astronomical masers for high-precision astrometry.

In 1996, he was appointed Director at the MPIfR where he and his group launched the APEX program. Professor Menten has also been an inventive and clever user of the IRAM’s facilities. As Director of the MPIfR, he provided continuous and important support, in particular for the IRAM 30-meter telescope, politically, scientifically and also, with his group, through forefront bolometer and spectrometer developments for this facility.

He served for more than 27 years on the IRAM Executive council, until 2024.

IRAM’s institutional members and staff are grateful for this engagement and remember him as an extremely warm and friendly person. Our thoughts are with his family.

Karl Friedrich Schuster
Director IRAM