The General Assembly of Alumni Freiburg e.V. elected a new Extended Board of Directors on 8 July 2016. The new board includes members of the Rectorate, presidents of the regional alumni clubs, and representatives of the faculties and the institutionalized alumni organizations. Alumni’aktuell introduces the new board members.

The General Assembly of Alumni Freiburg e.V. resolved in 2014 to establish an extended board of directors. Its purpose is to strengthen the link between alumni, university administrators, and the faculty in order to intensify the exchange of ideas. The Executive Board of Directors, consisting of Rector Professor Schiewer, Dr. Dorothea Rüland, and Rudolf-Werner Dreier, met with the new members of the Extended Board of Directors for the first time on 19 October.

The Executive Board of Directors

 

Chair

Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Hans-Jochen Schiewer has served as Rector of the University of Freiburg since 2008. He studied German and history at the Free University of Berlin, where he went on to earn his PhD in German Philology in 1990. After teaching as a professor in Fribourg (CH) and Göttingen, he was appointed as professor of German medieval studies at the University of Freiburg in 2003. As president of the trinational confederation Eucor – The European Campus and board member of the university alliance U15, he also has a hand in shaping current higher education policy. More information

 

 

Deputy Chair

Dr. Dorothea Rüland has held the post of Secretary General at the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) since 2010. She studied history, German studies, and musicology at the University of Freiburg from 1974 to 1978. After completing her PhD, she worked as a language assistant for the DAAD at Chiang Mai University in Thailand and later as the director of the DAAD branch office in Jakarta, Indonesia. From 2008 to 2010 she was director of the Center for International Cooperation at the Free University of Berlin. More information

 

 

Managing Director

Rudolf-Werner Dreier is the director of the Office of Public Relations at the University of Freiburg. After completing a degree in history and German studies, he initially worked for the SWR television corporation. In 1983 he assumed duties as director of the University of Freiburg’s Office of Public Relations. More information

 

 

Members of the Extended Board of Directors

Prof. Dr. Gunther Neuhaus has served as Vice President for Research at the University of Freiburg since 2012. He studied biology, earning his PhD in 1980. His cell biology research has taken him to many places around the world, including Heidelberg, New York, Zurich, and Singapore. He earned his habilitation qualification in 1993 at ETH Zurich. Since 1993 he has held the post of professor of cell biology at the Institute of Biology II of the University of Freiburg. He has been a member of the German national academy of science Leopoldina since 2000. In addition, he has served since 2003 as European coordinator of the Harvest Plus Program, which promotes the development and distribution of improved seeds in third-world countries. More information

 

 

Prof. Dr. Juliane Besters-Dilger has served as Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Freiburg since 2014. After completing a degree in Romance and Slavic studies in Freiburg, Cologne, and Grenoble, she earned her PhD in Slavic linguistics in 1987. Following her habilitation in 1990, she held the position of director of the University of Freiburg’s Center for French Studies. From 1994 to 2007 she was professor of Russian linguistics at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the University of Vienna. In 2007 she was offered the chair in Slavic philology at the University of Freiburg, which she held until her move to the Rectorate. More information

 

 

As Head of Administration, Dr. Matthias Schenek has been responsible for legal, human resources, and financial affairs at the University of Freiburg since 2008. He studied law in Tübingen. The attorney earned his doctorate with a dissertation on European genetic engineering law and then went on to work at Baden-Württemberg’s State Ministry and Ministry of Science. More information

 

 

Adnan Zogaj represents the institutionalized alumni organizations at the faculty level in the Extended Board of Directors of Alumni Freiburg e.V. as a member of the registered society Freiburger Wirtschaftswissenschaftler e.V. This group of Freiburg economists was the first faculty-level organization to join Alumni Freiburg e.V. Zogaj studied economics at the University of Freiburg, where he now works as a lecturer under the professor of marketing and health management. More information

 

 

Prof. Dr. Uwe Eduard Schmidt studied forest science at the University of Freiburg and earned his PhD in forest history in 1989. He then wrote his habilitation thesis on the problem of resource scarcity in a historical perspective at the Ludwig–Maximilian University in Munich. Today Schmidt teaches woodland and forest history in Freiburg. Professor Schmidt represents the faculty alumni representatives in the Extended Board of Directors. More information

 

 

Prof. Dr. Masahisa Deguchi studied law at Chuo University in Tokyo and in Freiburg. After completing his doctorate in Freiburg, he was appointed to a professorship at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, where he also served for many years as vice dean. A recipient of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Deguchi was a member of the selection commission for the DAAD Scholarship and the commission for the State Examination in Law. Professor Deguchi represents the international alumni clubs in the Extended Board of Directors as president of the Japanese Freiburg Alumni Club. More information

 

 

Marie Claudine Zangna completed the state examination degree program in pharmacy in Freiburg. After her studies she worked in France and Cameroon. Today she runs her own pharmacy in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital city. She is president of the Cameroon chapter of Alumni Freiburg, which is involved especially in efforts to promote environmentally-friendly waste disposal at hospitals in Cameroon. Marie Claudine Zangna represents the international alumni clubs in the Extended Board of Directors of Alumni Freiburg e.V. More information

 

 

After completing a degree at Connecticut College, Jeffrey Himmel came to the University of Freiburg on an American program in 1975 to study political science and economics. He worked in the steel industry in Detroit for many years, advancing to the position of president of a global steel import and export company in 1981. He is also a member of the board of directors of the American Institute for International Steel. He initiated efforts to establish an alumni club in North America in 2011 and is now president of this club. He represents the international alumni clubs in the Extended Board of Directors. More information

 

 

Dr. Ekkehart Meroth studied law in Freiburg, Heidelberg, and Vienna. After finishing his doctorate, he worked for the Deutsche Bank, attaining the position of executive and director of subsidiary companies. From 1998 to 2014, he was mayor of the health resort town Bad Krozingen, one of the state’s largest health centers. He played an instrumental role in organizing the fusion of the Heart Center Bad Krozingen with the Heart Center at the Freiburg University Medical Center. Since 2015 Ekkehart Meroth has served as a professor at the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University. He is a member of the supervisory board of several companies, including the University Heart Center Freiburg–Bad Krozingen and KWA gAG, located near Munich. Ekkerhart Meroth is honorary president of Baden-Württemberg’s health resort trade association. He represents the German alumni clubs in the Extended Board of Directors as president of the Freiburg chapter. More information

 

 

Dr. Wolfgang Thost studied economics in Freiburg and Dortmund. After completing his doctorate, he held several partner and management positions at leading consulting and high-tech firms, including the post of Vice President of International Operations in Europe at Siemens AG. He has been a managing partner of Atreus GmbH in Munich since 2009. He represents the German alumni clubs in the Extended Board of Directors as a member of the board of the Bayern chapter of Alumni Freiburg and the Freiburg economists’ organization. More information

 

 

After completing his studies at the University of Freiburg, Hans Stalf began work as an economist in the human resources department of the chemical company Henkel. The main stages of his career at Henkel included responsibilities in human resources planning and controlling, a stint as employment manager for non-pay-scale employees, extended stays abroad in countries such as China, and then, starting in 1998, the position of director of task allocation and performance appraisal. He retired in 2005 and is president of the North Rhine-Westphalia chapter of Alumni Freiburg. He represents the German alumni clubs in the Extended Board of Directors. More information