Alfred Kleiner

Alfred Kleiner (April 24, 1849–July 3, 1916) was Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Zürich, and was Albert Einstein's doctoral advisor or Doktorvater. Initially Einstein's advisor was H. F. Weber. However, they had a major falling out, and Einstein chose to switch to Kleiner. He received his PhD in 1874 from the University of Zürich, for a thesis entitled Zur Theorie der intermittirenden Netzhautreizung, under Johann Jakob Mül... more

Alfred Kleiner (April 24, 1849–July 3, 1916) was Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Zürich, and was Albert Einstein's doctoral advisor or Doktorvater. Initially Einstein's advisor was H. F. Weber. However, they had a major falling out, and Einstein chose to switch to Kleiner. He received his PhD in 1874 from the University of Zürich, for a thesis entitled Zur Theorie der intermittirenden Netzhautreizung, under Johann Jakob Müller. Alfred Kleiner was professor of physics at the University of Zürich. He also held several other positions and titles throughout his career, including: Privatdozent (private lecturer) in 1870, Ausserordentlicher Professor (Associate Professor) in 1880, Ordentlicher Professor (Full Professor) in 1885, Rektor (Chancellor) from 1908 to 1910, Honorarprofessor (Emeritus Professor) in 1915, and Privatdozent from 1875 to 1885 at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology also called Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich or ETH (the ... less