![[Translate to English:] Portrait Johann Komusiewicz](/fileadmin/_processed_/0/4/csm_Johann_Komusiewicz_schwarzer_Rahmen_63bda93c1d.png "[Translate to English:]")
The GFZ mourns the loss of Dr. Johann Komusiewicz, who was deputy chair of our Board of Trustees from May 2006 to February 2010. He held this position as State Secretary at the Brandenburg Ministry of Science, Research and Culture (MWFK) under the then Minister Prof. Dr. Johanna Wanka. Johann Komusiewicz was also involved in the GFZ's Friends association, of which he had been a member since 2010.
In 2009 and 2010, Johann Komusiewicz was actively involved in the founding of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies e.V. (IASS), now the Research Institute for Sustainability at GFZ (RIFS), and has been a personal member of the institute's general assembly for 14 years. There he has been a strong advocate for the institutional future of the IASS and for sustainability research.
After studying mathematics at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Johann Komusiewicz received his doctorate in 1971. He taught at his alma mater until 1990, when he moved to the Thuringian Ministry for Science and Culture. For the next 15 years, he represented Thuringia in committees and working groups, including the German Research Foundation, the German Council of Science and Humanities, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs, and the Bund-Länder Commission for Educational Planning and Research Funding.
In 2006, Johanna Wanka appointed him State Secretary at the MWFK, where he worked until his retirement. After that, Johann Komusiewicz remained connected to science and science policy. He was not only involved with the GFZ Friends, but also with the Friends and Supporters of the University of Jena as the association’s chairman and later as chairman of its administrative board. From 2011 to 2022, he also chaired the joint steering committee of the Carl von Ossietzky University and the Jade University of Applied Sciences.
His colleagues at the GFZ and the RIFS are grateful for Johann Komusiewicz's work at the GFZ and the IASS. Our deepest condolences go out to his family and friends.
