Rolf Beck
Rolf Beck, born in Giessen in 1937, already enjoyed playing with optical toys as a child. He made functioning optical instruments while still at grammar school. So it was only natural for him to do his professional training at the Optische Werke Ernst Leitz in Wetzlar. In 1955 he started a three-year apprenticeship as a technical sales clerk, in which he got to know all the final assemblies of the then widely-branched product range. After completing his training, he began working for Leitz in the marketing department, specializing in the sale of scientific instruments.
During the course of his career, Beck worked in Lausanne, Neuchâtel, Paris and Hamburg to accumulate the know-how required for his later job as product manager. In this position he represented the Ernst Leitz company and later Leica Microsystems Wetzlar GmbH worldwide as a specialist for the application of optical instruments in the forensic lab.
Rolf Beck retired in 2000.