"As the founding chancellor, Dr Klaus Peters had a strong influence on the development of the University of Wuppertal. Without his vision for the university and his tireless commitment, it would not be where it is today - and we will always be grateful to him for that. Our thoughts are with his family, who are mourning a great loss," says Rector Prof Dr Birgitta Wolff.

Peters was born in Wuppertal in 1936 and completed his Abitur at the Staatliches naturwissenschaftliches Gymnasium in Elberfeld. He then studied law in Cologne and Berlin. After passing both state law examinations and gaining his doctorate, he began his career at Wuppertal City Council in 1965 - initially as a consultant in the building department and from 1968 as a personal assistant to the then Wuppertal Chief Town Clerk Werner Stelly.

In 1970, Klaus Peters took over the management of the newly founded Office for University Affairs of the City of Wuppertal. Two years later, at the age of 36, the state government appointed him founding chancellor of the Wuppertal University of Applied Sciences. In 2001, the lawyer retired as the longest-serving German university chancellor.

His services to higher education policy were recognised with several awards: Peters received the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon in 1983 and the Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in 2003. In 2012, the University of Wuppertal made him an honorary citizen. Former rector Lambert T. Koch and the vice-president for administration and finance at the time, Roland Kischkel, described him as "one of the most important midwives" of the university. As a native of Wuppertal, he was also able to build a bridge between local politics and the university.