Frank T. Edelmann was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1954. He studied chemistry at the University of Hamburg, where he obtained his diploma in 1979 and PhD in 1983 under the guidance of Prof. Ulrich Behrens. After 2 years of postdoctoral research with Josef Takats (University of Frank T. Edelmann Alberta), John W. Gilje (University of Hawaii), and Tristram Chivers (University of Calgary), he finished his habilitation at the University of Göttingen in 1991 in the group of Herbert W. Roesky. In 1995, he was appointed Full Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the Otto-von-Guericke-University in Magdeburg. His main research interests are in organolanthanide and -actinide chemistry, silicon chemistry (silsesquioxanes and metallasilsesquioxanes), and fluorine chemistry. His work is documented in over 430 scientific papers, 2 books, and several patents. In 2008, he was awarded the "Terrae Rarae 2008 Award" for his "eminent work in coordination chemistry of the rare earth elements".