Hans Lutz Death – The American Bar Association (ABCD) wishes to express its deepest condolences to the family and friends of Hans Lutz, who passed away at the age of 78. After receiving his degree in 1971 from the University of Zurich, Hans went on to become a well-known emeritus professor of veterinary medicine there. After completing a postgraduate course in experimental biology and medicine, as well as several years of research in the fields of bacteriology and mastitis, he worked for two years at the Institute of Pharmacology and Biochemistry (University of Zurich).
Subsequently, he spent three years studying virology and immunology at the University of California Davis under the tutelage of Professor Niels C. Pedersen. Upon his return to Switzerland, he was assigned to the position of professor in clinical laboratory medicine. In 1981, he was also given the position of director of the clinical laboratory at the Veterinary Faculty in Zurich, where he remained until his retirement in 2011. At the Swiss National Centre for Retroviruses, he held the position of President from the year 1995 until the year 2008.
The Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences awarded him a specialist diploma in laboratory medical analysis during this time period since he had completed the necessary coursework. His research primarily focused on the study of feline viral infections, particularly retroviral infections, animal models for AIDS, feline immunology and vaccinology, tick-borne illnesses, and clinical laboratory diagnostics in the field of veterinary medicine. He wrote many book chapters and reviews, was a co-editor of the textbook “Diseases of the Cat” (written in collaboration with his close friend Marian Horzinek), and was a well-known guest lecturer and speaker both in the United States and internationally.
He was the author or co-author of over 350 articles that were published in journals that were subjected to peer review. First, he was honored with the Science Award from the World Small Animal Veterinary Association in the year 2001. Two years later, in the year 2022, he was accepted into the esteemed Academia Europaea. Not only was he a founder member of the ABCD, but he was also a member of the scientific advisory board to the Veterinary University in Vienna and a member of the German Academy of Natural Sciences Leopoldina.
He was a member of all three of these professional organizations. In his latter years, he was a feline expert for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and he was a fervent supporter of the organization.
However, Hans will be remembered most for his warm and engaging personality, his keen interest in the people and world around him, his generous support and friendship, and most importantly, his infectious laugh and wonderful anecdotes. This is in addition to his many academic accomplishments and his boundless curiosity about the scientific world. Our thoughts and prayers are with Claudia, their children, and their grandkids. He will be deeply missed by all of us.
