The MZES congratulates Prof. Walter Müller on his 80th birthday

The Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES) congratulates Prof. Walter Müller, former director and long-time head of department as well as project director, on his 80th birthday, which he celebrates on 25 January 2022. On this occasion, the Centre wants to acknowledge and thank him for his significant contribution to the past and present development of the Centre.

Walter Müller, Professor of Methods of Empirical Social Research and Applied Sociology at the University of Mannheim from 1980 to 2006, has shaped the MZES from its early phase to the present. During his time as director of the institute from 2002 to 2005, the state of Baden-Württemberg commissioned an international scientific panel to evaluate the MZES. The committee certified that the MZES, founded in 1989, had achieved a top position in social science research in Germany.  Walter Müller has played a decisive role in both establishing and maintaining this leading position.

Walter Müller was one of the founders of Research Department A of the MZES, which has a sociological focus, and headed it from 1990 to 1992 and from 1996 to 2002. Until well after his retirement in 2006, Walter Müller continued to contribute to the MZES both as a member of the Supervisory Board and as a director of scientific projects. In total, he was significantly involved in about 30 research projects at the MZES, usually in a leading role. His numerous groundbreaking publications and the considerable amount of external funding he has attracted are testament to his successful research activity, in which he addresses the social structure of highly developed societies, especially with regard to education, labour markets, inequality, and social mobility. Another focus of his work is methodological research, especially in the area of large-scale surveys of European social statistics.

Walter Müller's exceptional value for the MZES is also due to his warm and open personality. With his charisma, he has greatly influenced the careers of young scientists at the MZES and far beyond.

Dear Walter Müller, all the best!

(25 January 2022)