Prof. Dr. Franz Leiber - Obituary

Franz Leiber, born in Münster in 1941, studied agricultural sciences in Göttingen and obtained his doctorate in 1970 at the Institute for Agricultural Management at the University of Bonn. In 1972, he was appointed to the Department of Agricultural Business Management at the Kassel University of Applied Sciences in Witzenhausen.

In his teaching, he represented economics and agricultural economics, which he often supplemented and pointed out with expanding contributions from the current press. Interested students were thus educated with great commitment in an overall social and economic context. Franz Leiber supervised a large number of student theses on a very wide range of topics, most of which were directly related to agricultural practice and production economics. Excursions to farms in the surrounding area enriched his teaching by bringing theory and practice together on the farms.

In the 1980s, Franz Leiber published a wide-ranging textbook on agricultural economics with Parey Verlag, in which fundamental relationships were worked out clearly and comprehensibly. The textbook was also widely used in teaching at other universities.

Franz Leiber was a very committed colleague in academic self-administration, who was an elected member of the faculty council for many years, was involved in various appointment committees and also headed the faculty as dean for three years.

He was initially critical of the development of the department's profile towards organic agricultural sciences, but after the decision in the department he became increasingly open to organic farming and, among other things, continued to volunteer for the support association of the organic teaching and experimental farm Domäne Frankenhausen long after his retirement. His interest in many agricultural topics and participation in events organized by other departments at the faculty was particularly noticeable and gratifying.

Franz Leiber passed away on August 23, 2025 at the age of 84. In Franz Leiber, the University of Kassel has lost a valued teacher and scientist. The department will keep the deceased in worthy memory.