The Oldenburg State Theatre was sold out for the New Year's reception of the University and the University Society (UGO) on Thursday evening. Two ballet performances, four honours and the "chat afterwards" provided the almost 500 guests with an atmospheric evening.
At the traditional New Year's reception of the University of Oldenburg and the Universitätsgesellschaft Oldenburg e.V. (UGO) in the Oldenburg State Theatre on Thursday, University President Prof. Dr Dr Hans Michael Piper honoured four personalities. In front of around 500 guests, he presented former UGO Chair Michael Wefers with the University Medal. Prof. Dr Djordje Lazovic, Prof. Dr Hans-Rudolf Raab and Prof. Dr Reto Weiler, former Vice-Deans of the founding Dean's Office of School V - School of Medicine and Health Sciences, received the President's Medal of Honour.
"It is an extraordinary pleasure for me to honour four individuals who have rendered outstanding services to the university," said Piper. They had all contributed to promoting the further development of the university and deepening relations in the region.
Wefers, a management consultant from Oldenburg, received the award for his extraordinary personal commitment to the Oldenburg University Society, of which he was Chair from 2007 to 2016. "With his enthusiasm and tireless commitment, Michael Wefers has created lively links between science, business and society and has thus made an outstanding contribution to the successful development of the University of Oldenburg," the citation reads.
The President's Badge of Honour was awarded to three individuals who have rendered outstanding services to the establishment of the European Medical School Oldenburg-Groningen (EMS). Prof Dr Djordje Lazovic, Director of the University Clinic for Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery at Pius Hospital Oldenburg, was Dean of Studies in the founding deanery of the School of Medicine from 2012 to 2015. According to Piper, he "played a leading role in developing the innovative concept of the transnational degree programme together with Groningen and led its practical implementation to success."
Prof Dr Hans-Rudolf Raab, Director of the University Clinic for General and Visceral Surgery at Klinikum Oldenburg, and Prof Dr Reto Weiler, Oldenburg neurobiologist and Rector of the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg Delmenhorst, were members of the founding committee and Vice Deans in the founding Dean's Office of School VI from 2012 to 2016. "Hans-Rudolf Raab and Reto Weiler are the initiators of University Medicine Oldenburg. Their high level of scientific and clinical expertise and their tireless persuasion played a central role in the realisation of the project," emphasised Piper. They had also made a significant contribution to integrating the professorships in the natural sciences into the new School of Medicine and - together with the three Oldenburg hospitals and the Karl Jaspers Clinic in Bad Zwischenahn - to establishing the "University of Oldenburg Medical Campus", said Piper.
The cultural highlight of the varied evening at the State Theatre was the performance of "Imago Suite/4 Seasons" by the ballet company. The guests, who had previously been welcomed by Lord Mayor Jürgen Krogmann, University President Piper and the new UGO Chair Prof Dr Werner Brinker, experienced both modern abstract ballet and choreography to a cappella works sung live. The performance was followed by a "chat afterwards".
By purchasing a ticket, the guests at the New Year's reception once again supported the "Deutschlandstipendium" programme, which supports particularly talented and committed students.
