Velibor Marinković (1929-2000)

Velibor Marinković died on 12 October 2000. He studied chemistry at the Faculty for Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Ljubljana, where he graduated in 1953 and proceeded to obtain his PhD in 1959. He started his scientific career at the Jožef Stefan Institute, where he became involved with electron microscopy as early as 1954 and where he soon founded the first laboratory for electron microscopy in Slovenia. After spending a year at the solid-state physics department of the Nuclear Center in Mol, Belgium, he remained dedicated to the microstructural investigation of inorganic materials, defects, phase transitions in alloys, thin films, low-dimensional compounds and modulated structures. His main field of interest was transmission electron microscopy and diffraction, and lately scanning tunneling microscopy. He published over 150 papers and had contributions at numerous international conferences. In addition to research, he was actively involved in teaching at the Faculty for Natural Sciences and Engineering of the University of Ljubljana, where he was elected a full professor in 1986. He taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels physical metallurgy, structure and properties of materials, crystallography, and surface physics and chemistry. Many theses in the fields of physics and material science were successfully completed under his supervision.

Professor Marinković was a private but well respected individual, an excellent scientist and an outstanding teacher. He was a man with broad scientific knowledge and insight who was always willing to share these attributes with colleagues and students. Research and teaching occupied his entire life and he remained dedicated to both until the end. It was his job, his passion and his lifestyle, which he continued with as long as he was able to make the few steps to his office.

We have lost a scientist, a teacher and a friend. We will all miss him.