Obituary of Prof. Bernd Strauß (1959-2026)

It is with great sadness that we inform of the loss of our colleague Prof. Dr. Bernd Strauß, who passed away on September 27, 2026. With his passing, sport psychology has lost a dedicated professional, a generous educator and a distinguished researcher.

Prof. Strauß played a major role in the recent history of sport psychology in Germany, where he was widely regarded as one of the field’s leading figures. He was instrumental in consolidating the discipline, both through his work at the Institute of Sport Science at the University of Münster and through his engagement with the German Association for Sport Psychology (asp), which he led as president from 2017 to 2021 and as a founding member of the sport psychology section within the German Psychological Society.

Bernd Strauß also played a significant role internationally and specifically for FEPSAC. He served as Editor-in-Chief for FEPSAC’s journal, Psychology of Sport and Exercise, for more than 11 years and was pivotal for establishing it as our discipline’s leading journal. He served as Vice President of Research and Communication on the FEPSAC Managing Council beginning in 2022, a position he unfortunately had to step down from in order to focus on caring for his family. He served as president of the 2019 FEPSAC Congress in Münster, a congress which served as the setting for the celebration of FEPSAC’s 50^th anniversary. The congress is remembered as a success in terms of the number of participants, its scientific quality and excellent organisation.

He leaves behind a legacy built on integrity, academic excellence, and generous mentorship of young sport psychologists, enriched by his research on motor development and cognitive processes. His career embodied our discipline and the values we share within FEPSAC.

Our thoughts and sympathy go to his family, friends and colleagues.

He will be sorely missed.

Anne-Marie Elbe, Markus Raab, Maurizio Bertollo and Yago Ramis