Obituary Prof Dr Ingo Füsgen

The Faculty of Health at Witten/Herdecke University mourns the loss of its long-standing Chair of Geriatrics, Prof Dr Ingo Füsgen. He passed away on 20 December 2024 at the age of 80. Born on 11 September 1944 in Freistadt/Austria, he studied medicine in Cologne and Vienna. He passed his state examination in 1970, followed by his doctoral studies at the University of Cologne in 1971. After completing his specialist training in internal medicine at the Second Medical Clinic of the Municipal Hospitals of Nuremberg, Prof. Füsgen became head physician of the Third Medical Clinic specialising in geriatrics at the St. Antonius Velbert-Neviges Clinic, an academic teaching hospital of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, in 1980. In 1987, he completed his postdoctoral university lecturing qualification in the field of social gerontology at the University of Wuppertal. On 1 July 1990, Prof. Füsgen was appointed to the Chair of Geriatrics at Witten/Herdecke University, which he held until 1 November 2011.

He was intensively involved in the development of geriatrics in an increasingly ageing society. He focussed on ensuring quality of life and preventing the need for care in old age, and the medical care of people in need of care was particularly close to his heart.

Prof Füsgen's impressive scientific oeuvre includes more than 300 specialist articles, 15 books and 17 edited collections. Prof Füsgen held leading positions in many national and international associations and was one of the founders of the German Geriatric Society. In 2006, he was awarded the Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany on Ribbon for his services in his appointment and in an honorary capacity.

We will honour the memory of Prof. Füsgen and never forget him. Our thoughts are with his family.

Witten, 16 January 2025

Margareta Halek Heike Schütter Stefan Zimmer