Prof. Dr. Alfons Kemper

Academic Career and Research Areas

Prof Kemper’s (b. 1958) research field is database systems. He explores ways to optimize information systems for operational and scientific applications as a way to combat the data explosion. His main areas of interest are optimization concepts for distributed information structures, data integration methods and main memory-based database systems.

After studying computer science at the University of Dortmund, he moved to the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. While there, he obtained his Master of Science and doctorate. Upon his return to Germany, he completed his lecturer qualification at the University of Karlsruhe. His first professorship was conferred by RWTH Aachen. After many years as Director of the Chair of Database Systems at the University of Passau, TUM offered him a position in 2004. From 2006 to 2010, he was Dean of the Department of Informatics at TUM. His textbook on database systems, published by Oldenbourg Verlag and now in its 10^th edition, is a best-seller in German-speaking countries and is used in most universities and colleges.

Awards

• ACM Fellowship (2022)
• ICDE Ten-Year influential Paper Award (2021)
• Fellow, Gesellschaft für Informatik GI (2016)
• Best Paper Award (co-author), Deutsche Datenbankkonferenz BTW (2015)
• Best Paper Award (co-author), International Conference on Data Engineering ICDE (2014)