The planned European Medical School Oldenburg-Groningen, which is due to commence teaching in the 2012/13 winter semester, has reached another milestone: Prof. Dr Eckhart Georg Hahn, currently Dean of the School of Health at Witten/Herdecke University, will take up his post as the future Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Oldenburg on 1 August. He is already acting in an advisory capacity as the founding representative. In addition to establishing the School and setting up the European Medical School Oldenburg-Groningen, he will drive forward the creation of a university hospital in collaboration with the Oldenburg hospitals. “The establishment of the European Medical School is a major project comprising many stages. Today, another important interim goal has been achieved. In Professor Hahn, the School of Medicine is gaining an excellent founding dean who will actively drive forward this important pioneering work,” said Lower Saxony’s Minister for Science, Prof. Dr Johanna Wanka. University President Prof. Dr Babette Simon explained: “In Professor Hahn, we are gaining a proven expert in medical education and an outstanding research manager for this important and forward-looking position.” Hahn studied medicine in Kiel, Glasgow and Hamburg and also obtained a Master’s degree in Medical Education in Bern. After passing the State Examination for Medicine, Hahn became a research assistant at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsried near Munich in 1971. In 1973, he moved to the Department of Medicine at the University of Marburg, where he completed his habilitation in 1978. As a Heisenberg scholarship holder, he undertook stays abroad at the Royal Free Medical School in London and at the First Department of Medicine at Chiba University (Japan). From 1982 to 1987, he held the professorship for Internal Medicine at the Steglitz Clinic of the Free University of Berlin. This was followed by an appointment as Rorer Professor of Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia (USA), where he also held the post of Director of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. In 1988, Hahn accepted a post as Full Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and simultaneously became Director of Medical Clinic 1 at the University Hospital. After more than 20 years at the helm of the clinic, he retired in 2009. Since then, he has been Dean at Witten/Herdecke University. In addition to research and teaching, he has served, amongst other roles, as Chair of the Bavarian State Health Council and as a board member and Chair of the Society for Biomedical Engineering within the Association for Electrical, Electronic and Information Technologies. He is a member of numerous committees, including serving as Chair of the Society for Medical Education.