Dear colleagues and friends of the Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern (AIUB)

With deep sadness I have to inform you that Prof. Dr. Werner Gurtner died from cancer last Saturday, October 24, in the Lory Hospital of the University of Bern, shortly after his sixtieth birthday.

Werner Gurtner completed his studies in Surveying Engineering in 1973 at the Institute of Geodesy and Photogrammetry of the ETH in Zurich, Switzerland. From 1974 to 1979 he was a research assistant and Ph.D. candidate of Prof. Max Schuerer, who was a lecturer at the ETH in addition to his position as director of the AIUB. Werner's Ph.D. thesis, partly written in Bern, resulted in the "Geoid of Switzerland" using astrometric observations -- a well-known reference.

Werner Gurtner was officially employed by the AIUB since January 1980. As early as 1978, at the ETH, he started working on the new Zimmerwald Observatory dedicated to Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR).

In 1987 he became the director of the Zimmerwald fundamental
observatory. During the 1980s Werner also worked on the team that successfully developed what would eventually be known as the Bernese GPS Software package. Between 1992 and 1996 he led the AIUB team, which planned and realized the new SLR and astrometry telescope in Zimmerwald. In collaboration with the Canton of Bern, the University of Bern, the Swiss National Science Foundation, and
the Swiss Federal Office of Topography, the 1-meter combined SLR and astrometry telescope was deployed at Zimmerwald and became one of the essential pillars of the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS). With the same energy Werner organized the upgrade of the Observatory during 2005-2008. The site as established by Werner is recognized now as one of the foremost stations in the
global space geodesy community from the scientific, technical, and administrative points of view.

In the 1990s, Werner Gurtner was one of the key persons in the development of the International GNSS Service (IGS). His
contributions related to IGS data transfer and information
dissemination were of great importance and at least in part
responsible for the worldwide acceptance of the IGS. The Receiver INdependent EXchange (RINEX) format, which he initiated and coined to a great extent, became a standard as the platform for exchanging GNSS data in both science and engineering applications. Werner continued to work on RINEX enhancements until very recently. The global acceptance of RINEX in both the science and receiver technology communities is a tribute to Werner's foresight.

Werner helped the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) to develop essential structural elements related to space geodesy. He was a member of the very active EUREF Technical Working Group since 1992; he chaired this group from 1999 to 2003. He was not only a key person on the development of the IGS, but also, even to a much greater extent, for the development of the ILRS. Werner Gurtner was Chair of the ILRS Governing Board from 2002 to 2009. Before that time he chaired EUROLAS, an association of European SLR observatories.

The Faculty of Sciences of the University of Bern acknowledged the achievements of this eminent engineer and scientist by awarding him the title of professor in 1999. Werner Gurtner will be remembered as competent collaborator, good friend and dear colleague.

Gerhard Beutler
Astronomical Institute
University of Bern
Switzerland