TUM and the Institute for Advanced Study mourn the loss of Prof. Michael Nobel, who died on 27 November 2024 at the age of 83.
Michael Nobel (born on 3 February 1940) was a great grandnephew of Alfred Nobel. Together with members of the Nobel family, he co-founded in 2007 the Nobel Sustainability Trust (NST).
After his studies in psychology at the University of Lausanne, Prof. Michael Nobel worked as a researcher in social sciences at the Institute for Mass Communication at the University of Lausanne and as a consultant to UNESCO in Paris and the United Nations' divison of Social Affairs in Geneva on methods for substance abuse prevention. As an entrepreneur, he brought a novel method of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging to market maturity.
In later years, he devoted himself to sustainability, especially in the renewable energy and clean tech sectors, serving as an advisor and board member of international companies and NGOs.
In 2022, the Nobel Sustainability Trust officially entrusted the TUM and its Institute for Advanced Study as an academic partner for chairing the international selection process of the winners of the Sustainability Awards.
We will remember him as a warm-hearted, sharp-thinking, and creative personality whose vision of sustainability was driven by the harmony of technological progress, nature conservation, and economic prosperity.