Oldenburg psychologist Prof Dr Siegfried Grubitzsch is the new President of the University of Oldenburg. The Council elected him on 11 February in the fourth ballot with 72 out of 133 votes. Grubitzsch, who will take up his new office on 1 October 1998, successfully prevailed against his competitors Prof. Dr Walter Schmitz (University of Dresden) and Dr Hans-Gerhard Husung (German Council of Science and Humanities). He will succeed Prof. Dr Michael Daxner, who has headed the university since 1986 and had already decided not to stand for re-election six months ago.

Grubitzsch (57) studied psychology, business administration, politics and philosophy in Mainz and Braunschweig. After completing his Diplom in 1967 at the University of Braunschweig, he initially became a research assistant. His doctorate in 1972 was followed by a first appointment at the Weinheim University of Education, where he taught for two years. In 1974, he was appointed to the newly founded University of Oldenburg, where he was Dean of Department 5 Philosophy/Psychology/Sports Science from 1992 to 1995 and Vice President of the University from 1995 to 1997.

Chair of the University Society, Peter Waskönig, promised the new President support in his efforts to further integrate the University into the region. He was sure that the path he had taken would be continued.

For the new lecture hall centre, which was completed for the summer semester, the University Society has donated honorary plaques to commemorate people who have rendered outstanding services to the University (honorary senators, honorary citizens, honorary doctors). The lecture hall centre comprises three lecture halls with 470, 260 and 200 seats, which can also be combined into an Audimax with approx. 900 seats with the aid of mobile partition walls. The building was designed by the Hamburg architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (GMP). On 11 June, it will be presented to the public as a venue for major cultural events with a symphony concert featuring the NDR Hanover Philharmonic Orchestra.

A special gift awaited computer scientist Annette Jasper. As the 500th member of the University Society, she was invited to a meal at the Oldenburg gourmet restaurant Le Journal by Chair Peter Waskönig. Under Waskönig's leadership, the membership of the University Society has increased by 50 per cent. There are currently 533 registered members.

Chair of the University Society Peter Waskönig has described this year's Wachsmann Prize winner Thekla Norzel as an advertising medium for the university. The student teacher was honoured for her dissertation "Religiously motivated help for the persecuted in the Third Reich". The Gerhard Wachsmann Prize, which is awarded annually, is endowed with DM 5,000.

The presentation of the Gerhard Wachsmann Prize of the University Society will take place on 13 November after the Annual General Meeting. 10 works by students and academic staff have been submitted to the jury.

Once again this year, the Oldenburg State Theatre's special performance for the University and University Society met with great interest. On 27 January 1998, the theatre presented "The Learned Women" by Molière to an almost sold-out audience. The only drawback: the somewhat short interval, which put certain limits on the enjoyment of champagne and seeing and being seen.

The University of Oldenburg has been awarded its first endowed professorship. EWE AG, the economic association "Kleiner Kreis" and the foundation of Oldenburgische Landesbank (OLB) are jointly funding a C3 professorship in business informatics for five years with 700,000 marks, after which it will be taken over by the University of Oldenburg.

The contract was signed on 21 November 1997. President Prof Dr Michael Daxner described the establishment of the professorship as an expression of the increasingly well-functioning cooperation between the regional economy and the university. In his acceptance speech, Daxner said that the donors had stepped in where the university and the state could not fulfil the requirements of the times with the necessary intensity and speed in the current structure. The professorship is also to be integrated into the OFFIS computer science institute, which cooperates closely with industry.