"More pleasure than burden?" is the title of the book, which describes the 40-year history of the University of Oldenburg from the perspective of its founding rector and former presidents.
The idea for this unique nationwide project was the brainchild of the recently deceased entrepreneur and honorary chairman of the Universitätsgesellschaft Oldenburg e.V. (UGO), Dr h.c. Peter Waskönig, who recently passed away. Together with the former and long-standing university spokesman Gerhard Harms, he succeeded in persuading the founding rector and the eight former presidents to reflect on their time at the helm of the university in essays. The 2nd expanded edition, which has now been published, also includes contributions from Prof Dr Babette Simon and Prof Dr Katharina Al-Shamery, who steered the university's fortunes from 2010 to 2015.
The book makes it clear that the university's start in the 1970s and 1980s did not always go smoothly. Its many young academics wanted a reformed university in which social problems were openly discussed and taken up in all areas of research. They focussed on topics that were not in the mainstream of science and were sometimes viewed very critically by business and politics. These included environmental, energy and resource research - now highly recognised focal points which, together with others, have decisively shaped the university's profile. The internationally renowned hearing research and marine research also have their roots in the 1970s.
The newly included contributions by Babette Simon and Katharina Al-Shamery illustrate just how successful the university has been, particularly in its more recent past. Their terms of office include the founding of the School of Medicine and the opening of the European Medical School Oldenburg-Groningen (EMS), the approval of the "Hearing4all" cluster of excellence, participation in the Karl Jaspers Complete Edition, the establishment of several research training groups and the handover of the deep-sea research vessel "Sonne", whose home institute is the university's Institute of Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment.
In their introductory remarks, the editors of the book agree that the university, once much desired by the region but little loved in its early years, is now the driving force behind Oldenburg's status as one of the most dynamic cities in Lower Saxony.
Gerhard Harms and Peter Waskönig (eds.), "More pleasure than burden?" The founding rector and presidents of the University of Oldenburg on their challenges and successes 1974-2015, Oldenburg 2017, BIS-Verlag, 13.50 euros.
