The University of Oldenburg bid farewell to its President Prof Dr Babette Simon at an academic matinée today. Numerous guests came to the Audimax of the lecture theatre centre, including Lower Saxony's Science Minister Dr Gabriele Heinen-Kljajić.
Prof Dr Wolfgang Frühwald, Honorary President of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, was also among the guests. Frühwald, who gave the keynote speech, gave his "literary foray" under the motto "On the happiness of farewell". Simon is moving to Mainz on 1 April to take over as Chairman of the Board of the Mainz University Medical Centre.
"In just four years, Prof Simon has led the University of Oldenburg to numerous successes in the areas of research and teaching," said Minister Heinen-Kljajić. "She has sharpened the University's profile and continuously developed its internationalisation."
She very much regrets the departure of President Simon, explained Prof. Dr Katharina Al-Shamery, Vice President for Research and Acting President of the University from 1 April. "Under her presidency, the university has developed strongly and successfully. I was deeply impressed to see the enormous personal commitment Mrs Simon has shown to the interests and future viability of the university. The university is losing a skilful strategist and an excellently networked university expert."
Simon emphasised that she was looking forward to her new role, but found it difficult to say goodbye. She had greatly enjoyed managing such a dynamically developing university during her four years in office. "I am convinced that the University of Oldenburg will continue to create something unique in the future and be even more successful both nationally and internationally." With its characteristic openness to new ideas, the university has achieved an excellent position in research and teaching in the 40 years of its existence. "I have always been particularly impressed by the dedicated staff and the strong support from the region."
Simon's time in office saw the internationalisation of the university and the further development of its profile. The School of Medicine and the European Medical School Oldenburg-Groningen were founded. Other milestones included the approval of the "Hearing4all" cluster of excellence, four new DFG Research Training Groups and two DFG Research Units. There were also signs of growth on campus, including the construction of the research laboratory for turbulence and wind energy systems and the Student Service Centre.
In order to promote young scientists, the university opened a Graduate Academy. The Federal Ministry of Economics named the University of Oldenburg one of the best start-up universities in Germany; it subsequently opened a start-up and innovation centre (GIZ). In the area of study and teaching, the objectives of the European study reform were pursued further; the university successfully acquired funding for research-based learning in the federal-state programme "Quality Pact for Teaching".
Simon studied human medicine in Freiburg and Basel and completed her doctorate at the University of Freiburg. Before taking office as President of the University of Oldenburg on 1 February 2010, she was Vice President at the Philipps University of Marburg. Among other things, she is a member of the Medical Committee of the German Council of Science and Humanities and a Senator of the Helmholtz Association for the research field of health.
Chemist Prof Dr Katharina Al-Shamery, Vice President for Research since 2010, will take over as acting President of the University from 1 April. Prof Katharina Al-Shamery, who has been Vice President for Research since 2010, will take over as acting head of the university from 1 April - together with Vice Presidents Prof Dr Gunilla Budde (Studies and Teaching), Prof Dr Bernd Siebenhüner (Early Career Researchers and Quality Management) and Jörg Stahlmann, Vice President for Administration and Finance, who is responsible for managing the university. In addition, on 1 June, Computing Science Professor H.-Jürgen Appelrath will take over Al-Shamery's previous position as Vice President for Research on an interim basis. Appelrath was already Vice President for Research from 2009 to 2010.
