Letter_5_4_1

Laudatio in Celebration of




                                                                                                                                     Letters
Professor Rolf Ewers on his
75th birthday

Together with the readers and the editors at the Stomatology Edu Journal we would
very much like to congratulate Professor Rolf Ewers on his 75th birthday. Throughout
his academic career he has shown visionary leadership in clinical commitment, clinical
expertise, innovation and research creating a brand name at the Vienna University. His
department was known for its excellence at the top of cranio-maxillo-facial surgery.
During and after his academic career he has been the figurehead for many of us and
serves as a living example of what can be achieved with intelligence, manual dexterity,
perseverance, organisational and political talent, open mindedness and above all a
profound understanding of patient care and commitment to each patient. He was born
on 01.12.1943 in Litzmannstadt, Poland and attended school in Germany. Thereafter
he spent one year as an exchange student in the United States. He graduated from the
medical school and the dentistry one at Freiburg (Germany). Again he chose the United
States for a surgical assistantship at the Downstate University Medical Center, Brooklyn
– New York. His time in the US proved to be an excellent investment. Then he rose
to academic prominence to the position of Professor Ordinarius and Chairman of the
Department of Oral and Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of Vienna, in
November 1989, a position which he held till 2012. Being a savvy, hardworking and skillful surgeon with an excellent team
around him, he came to be in the limelight of craniomaxillofacial surgery performing the first tongue transplantation in the
world in 2003. He was granted German–Austrian dual nationality. Together with his wife Hildegund they raised 3 children:
Josefine, Stephanie and Elisa. Hildegund is the most underestimated part of his biography. To channel such an academic
storm of talent and keep a balance between career and family life takes both IQ and EQ and she perfectly knows how to be
the Neck in this succesful Head and Neck combination. It is impossible for the Head not to turn in the same direction as
Hildegund. Pursuing an academic career requires great sacrifices to meet the expectations of a University: research, articles,
PhD, lectures, teaching, resident training programs, clinical excellence, clinical output and active participation in national
and international meetings, boards and journals. All of these tasks to be fulfilled at a fixed and modest wage! Professor
Rolf Ewers faced all these challanges without hesitation as if nature had gifted him with a constant stream of creativity and
energy. He has written over 600 publications in the fields of cranio-maxillo-facial surgery either as author, senior author or
co-author, as well as more than 20 chapters in books. He held more than 760 scientific lectures worldwide, more than 800
student lectures; he is a member of 29 professional associations, of 11 editoral boards of national and international peer
reviewed journals. His scientific success is based on medical research. He devoted much of his time and interest in bone
replacement materials with porous hydroxyapatite, bone inductive proteins and bioengineered bone production. He was a
leader in the development of 3D-reconstruction techniques and computer-assisted intra-operative navigation, augmented
virtual reality, and telesurgery.
He has been rightfully and frequently decorated with national and international prizes and awards.
We know he loves reading, bicycling, art, music and the State Opera in Vienna. We wish you and your family the very best
in the future: enjoy life!


                                                                     Constantinus Politis , MD, DDS, MHA, MM, PhD
                                                                                             Professor and Chairperson
                                                                          Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
                                                                          University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
                                                               Co-Editors-in-Chief (Europe) of Stomatology Edu Journal
                                                                        DOI: https://doi.org/10.25241/stomaeduj.2018.5(4).letter.1




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