Ekhard Salje

Ekhard Karl Hermann Salje, FRS (1946-2025) was an Emeritus Professor, and formerly Professor of Mineralogy and Petrology and Head of the Department of Earth Sciences, Cambridge University.

Education and career

Ekhard Salje completed his University Teacher’s Dissertation in 1972, and by 1983 was the Head of Department at the Institute for Crystallography and Petrology at the Leibniz University Hannover. In 1985 he moved to Cambridge where was awarded a Professorship in Mineral Physics in the Department of Earth Sciences in 1992. He worked jointly in the Department of Physics Cavendish Laboratory.

In 1998 he assumed the post of Head of Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, which he retained until October 2008.

In October 2001 he became President of Clare Hall, a post he held until 2008 when he was succeeded by Sir Martin Harris.

Research Professor Salje's research was focused in the field of mineralogy and mineral physics using approaches that combine theoretical and experimental methods. In particular, he was concerned with the stability of minerals and the transformation processes that occur within them in response to changes in temperature and pressure. His work included the study of structural phase transitions, the formation of polaronic states in transition metal oxides like WO3, and ferroelasticity. The dynamics of phase transitions includes the movements of nano-domains which progress as avalanches in most cases. He discovered avalanche behaviour by experiment and computer simulation in ferroelastics, ferroelectrics and martensitic alloys. His work in the field of mineral physics was rewarded in 1996 when he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. This was followed by his election as Chevalier dans l’ordre des Palmes Academiques (France) in 2004, and the award of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2007. Honorary PhD (Dr. h.c.) Leibniz University Hanover, 2024