P. Ole Fanger, a Danish researcher considered the world's leading expert on the effect of indoor air quality on humans, died this week while visiting Syracuse University, where he was a visiting scholar. Fanger was 72.
Fanger died Monday night at Crouse Hospital after he had been admitted earlier in the day complaining of back pain.
A senior professor at the International Centre for Indoor Environment and Energy at the Technical University of Denmark, Fanger died from the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm, said Ed Bogucz, executive director of the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems. Bogucz said he had been in communication with Fanger's two daughters in Denmark.

In March, Fanger was named a University Professor by Syracuse, the school's highest academic rank.
He was in Syracuse this week as part of his professorship, which allowed him to stay in Denmark and make weeklong trips to Syracuse throughout the year to work with faculty and students. He was scheduled to give a public lecture Tuesday.

Fanger's death stunned those who knew him.

"Aside from the back pain, he was the usual Ole. High energy, enthusiastic, engaging, social," Bogucz said.
Fanger had received 75 scientific awards in 28 countries, including 12 honorary doctorates, 18 medals, and honorary memberships in 16 professional societies. He received an honorary doctor of science degree from Syracuse at the 2005 commencement and was the keynote speaker at the second annual Syracuse Symposium on Environmental and Energy Systems in 2002.

Fanger and his team at the Technical University were the first to document that poor indoor air quality in homes increases children's risks for developing asthma and allergies and that mediocre indoor air quality in offices decreases productivity.

Fanger's field studies also showed that pollution from building materials, electronic devices and HVAC systems is often a cause of poor indoor air quality, according to SU.

"He gave birth to the field," Bogucz told The Post-Standard of Syracuse. "He was, quite simply, a pioneer who was the first really to write down in a very scholarly way the interactions between a human being and their environment."
Lynn Bellenger, a vice president with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers, said Fanger's work is widely referenced throughout the industry.

"Everyone respected his groundbreaking research and the contributions that he made," Bellenger said.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/20/america/NA_GEN_US_Obit_Fanger.php

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