"I am very much looking forward to my new role - especially as the University of Oldenburg has created a special profile for itself as a successful new university founded in the 1970s thanks to a far-sighted strategy," said Piper on taking up his post. Its hearing research with the Hearing4all cluster of excellence, Computing Science, marine and energy research as well as its successes in the humanities and social sciences are impressive evidence of this. It is also the most important university location in Lower Saxony for teacher training and emphasises its outstanding potential with its innovative forms of teaching and learning.
Piper described the founding of the School of Medicine with the European Medical School Oldenburg-Groningen as a special achievement of Oldenburg as a university location. He emphasised that further strengthening and expanding it was a particularly important task. He will use the coming weeks and months to gain a detailed picture of the university. He is certain that he will be able to count on the support of both the academic department and the technical and administrative staff.
Prof Dr Katharina Al-Shamery, who had been acting President since April last year, said she was delighted that the University of Oldenburg had gained an experienced President in Professor Piper and congratulated him on taking office. "I am sure that the University is well prepared for the expected changes in the German higher education landscape and is very well positioned for the increasing competition with the new President."
Al-Shamery now once again holds the office of Vice President for Research and Transfer, which Prof Dr Dr h. c. H.-Jürgen Appelrath had held on an interim basis. She thanked Mr Appelrath for his work in this role and his great willingness to represent the overall interests of the University. Al-Shamery also thanked Vice President Prof Dr Gunilla Budde and Vice Presidents Prof Dr Bernd Siebenhüner and Jörg Stahlmann for their collegial support during her interim presidency.
Personal details:
Prof. Dr Dr Hans Michael Piper, born in Kiel in 1952, studied medicine, physics and philosophy at the University of Göttingen. His Diplom in physics (1978) was followed a year later by a doctorate in medicine and a doctorate in philosophy in 1980. In 1985, Piper qualified as a professor in the subject of physiology. In the same year, he was appointed professor at the University of Düsseldorf. After research stays in England and Canada and a call to Kiel, the scientist accepted a professorship in physiology at the University of Giessen in 1994. Piper held various positions there: he was Director of the Institute of Physiology for many years, Vice Dean and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine from 2003 to 2006, a member of the Board of Directors of Giessen University Hospital and a member of the Management Board of Giessen and Marburg University Hospital. From 2007 to 2008, Piper served as founding director of the Giessen Graduate Centre for Life Sciences, in 2008 as president of the annual conference of the German Society of Cardiology and from 2009 to 2010 as president of the German Physiological Society. From November 2008 to October 2014, the physician was Rector of the University of Düsseldorf, then Director of the Institute for Molecular Medicine III at the University of Düsseldorf.
Piper has also held numerous other positions in recent years. For example, he was Chair of the Board of Trustees of the German Diabetes Centre (Leibniz Institute), Deputy Chair of the Administrative Board of the Leibniz Institute for Environmental Medical Research and Chair of the Board of Trustees of Düsseldorf Business School.
