On 28 February 2023, Professor Werner Theisen retired after almost 40 years at RUB with a short interruption due to activities in industry.

He had been researching and teaching in Bochum since 1984 and had been head of the Chair Materials Technologie at the Institute of Materials since 2000, the last three years together with his successor Prof. Sebastian Weber. As a farewell, Prof. Marcus Petermann, Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, thanked him for his service during a small ceremony in the institute's experimental hall.