Helmut Baumgarten

1937 Born in Stolzenau (Silesia)

1965 Awarded a degree in Engineering (Engineering and Management) by the TU Berlin (Berlin Institute of Technology)

1965 to 1972 Practical experience in transport research and energy supply companies, research assistant at the TU Berlin (Berlin Institute of Technology)

1972 Awarded a PhD in Engineering in the field of transport logistics, TU Berlin (Berlin Institute of Technology)

1974 Post-doctoral qualification with "Venia Legendi" entitlement in Applied Mechanical Engineering with the focus on conveying technology, TU Berlin (Berlin Institute of Technology)

1976 to 2004 Professor at the TU Berlin (Berlin Institute of Technology), creation and development of the logistics teaching and research department into one of the biggest educational institutions for logistics in Europe

1978 to 1999 Board member of Bundesvereinigung Logistik (BVL), honorary member since 1999

1987 Baumgarten founds Logplan GmbH Airport Logistics Consulting based in Berlin, Frankfurt/Main, Denver (USA) (roughly 35 employees)

1990 Founding of the Zentrum für Logistik und Unternehmensplanung GmbH (ZLU), based in Berlin and Sao Paulo (Brazil) (around 120 employees)

2003 Awarded the First-Class Federal Order of Merit

2004 Baumgarten retires

2007 Induction into the Logistics Hall of Fame

• Professor Dr.-Ing. Dr. rer. pol. h.c. Helmut Baumgarten performed pioneering work in the furthering of the logistics mindset. He was a driving force behind closer cooperation between companies and universities, and is considered to be one of the leading logistics scientists of the second half of the 20th century and the founder of holistic and process-oriented logistics in Germany.
• At the end of the 70s, the business engineer developed the idea of a purely material flow-based system of material management into an integrative scientific discipline. There were no logistics chairs at universities at the time, and lateral thinking was considered a pastime for dreamers rather than innovators. Baumgarten stuck to his guns and turned the "Chair of Applied Mechanical Engineering" with the focus on conveying technology into Germany's first Chair of Logistics. 
• He also achieved great progress in furthering the prospects of up-and-coming logisticians. His track record: 1,000 degree theses, over 100 dissertations and seven post-doctoral theses, 500 publications and 300 lectures.
• Above all as the scientific leader and Board member of the newly founded Bundesvereinigung Logistik (BVL), Baumgarten made a major contribution to ensuring that logistics in academia and practice could develop hand in hand.
• In 2003, Baumgarten was presented with the First-Class Federal Order of Merit for his outstanding contribution to science and industry both in Berlin and throughout the Federal Republic of Germany.