Heinz Wolff
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| Heinz Siegfried Wolff | |
|---|---|
 Professor Heinz Wolff |
|
| Born | 29 April 1928 Berlin, Germany |
| Citizenship |  United Kingdom |
| Fields | Bioengineering |
| Alma mater | University College London |
Professor Heinz Wolff BSc. FIEE. FIBES FRCP (Hon) FRSA [1] is a German-British scientist, and television and radio presenter who was born in 1928. He is popularly known for his television and radio work, including the TV series The Great Egg Race.
[edit] Life and career
Born in Berlin, 29 April 1928, Wolff's family moved to Britain when he was aged 11. The family arrived on the day World War II broke out. After school at the City of Oxford High School for Boys[2] he worked at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford and at the Pneumoconiosis Research Unit near Cardiff, before going on to University College London, where he gained a first class honours degree in Physiology and Physics.
He spent much of his early career in bioengineering, a term which he himself coined in 1954 to take account of then recent advances in physiology. He became an honorary member of the European Space Agency in 1975, and in 1983 he founded the Brunel Institute for Bioengineering, which is involved in biological research during weightless space-flight. Wolff was the scientific director and co-founder of Project Juno, the private British-Soviet joint venture which sent Helen Sharman to the Mir space station.
Known to British TV audiences for his bow tie and pronounced German accent, reinforcing the stereotype of the eccentric but kind-hearted German scientist, much of his recognition by the public is due to his past appearances as presenter of The Great Egg Race and Great Experiments, and as a presenter/judge for the annual Young Scientist of the Year award in the UK, all in the late 1970s to early 1980s. Professor Wolff was one of the first people to be interviewed by Ali G, during that character's initial appearances on The 11 O'Clock Show.
He is now Emeritus Professor of Bioengineering at Brunel University.
He is one of the few people to have read premature reports of his own death. The Sun wrongly reported his death when a different Professor Heinz Wolff died at a British university[citation needed].
In March 2009, he starred in a new game for PC, DS and Wii, "Heinz Wolff's Gravity".[3]
[edit] References
- ^ "Heinz Wolff at Brunel University". Archived from the original on 29 June 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070629223026/http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/history/memorials/buildings/wolff. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
- ^ The Independent: "Passed/Failed: An education in the life of Professor Heinz Wolff, scientist and broadcaster"
- ^ "E3 2008: Professor Heinz Wolff's Gravity Hands-On". http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/puzzle/professorheinzwolffsgravity/news.html?sid=6194787&mode=gsreview. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
