Helmut A. Schaeffer Receives Glass Industry’s 2005 Phoenix Award

Selected for the award in recognition of his many contributions to the glass industry as a researcher, scientist, teacher, editor and industry leader, Dr. Schaeffer received the coveted mythological Phoenix Steuben glass award at a ceremony and banquet held recently at the Corning Glass Museum in Corning, New York.
An American Field Service scholarship winner, Dr. Schaeffer holds degrees from the Technical University of Berlin and the Max Planck Institute for Silicate Research in Würzburg, Germany. In 1969, he joined the newly founded Institute of Materials Science at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany where he performed research in the fields of glass structure, transport phenomena, glass surface modification and redox reactions in glass melts.

During the 1980s, Dr. Schaeffer was a visiting scientist in the Department of Ceramics at the Houldsworth School of Applied Sciences at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom and a visiting professor at the New York State College of Ceramics, Alfred University. In 1985, he became Managing Director of the Research Association of the German Glass Industry (HVG) and the German Society of Glass Technology (DGG). During Dr. Schaeffer’s service, he initiated research in the field of situ sensors and developed a device for non-destructive testing of fusion-cast refractories.

Dr. Schaeffer served as editor of the International Journal of Glass Science and Technology which he changed from German to English in 1987. In 1983, he became a member of the Coordinating Technical Committee (CTC) of the International Commission of Glass (ICG) and served as CTC’s chairman from 1987 until 1992. In 1997, Dr. Schaeffer was elected vice president of the ICG and served as its president from 2000 until 2003. He was responsible for the organization of the XIX International Congress on Glass in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2001.

Background: The Phoenix Award
In May 1971, representatives of 19 major suppliers to the glass industry met in New York City to form an association to recognize outstanding individuals who have made noteworthy contributions to the glass industry. They created the Phoenix Award Committee “to select, each year, a person now living, who has been active in and has made contributions to any phase of the glass industry.” As a symbol of the Award, the recipients receive a glass sculpture representing the mythological Phoenix.
Committee members serve for a period of four years. Six new members are elected each year to replace those whose terms have expired. Membership is on an individual, not corporate basis. Members must be employed by a company which is a supplier to the glass manufacturing industry.