Klaus Tschira: 1940--2015

On Mar 31, 2015, the entrepreneur, software pioneer, and patron and supporter of scientific research Klaus Tschira died unexpectedly at the age of 74. He made numerous lasting contributions to the scientific community. Naming them all would exceed even a lengthy appraisal, so they will just mention the most prominent ones. Tschira was one of the key architects and developers for the core components of the SAP product suite. He used and, in many cases, developed ideas and concepts that in those days were just slowly gaining attention in the CS research community, concepts such as abstraction, modularization, adaptability, and extensibility. Tschira touched the lives of many and changed them for the better, be it in the context of SAP, in his foundation and research institutes, or through his many funding programs.