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Andreas Barner Re-elected as University Council Chairman

Top business executive, researcher and alumnus Andreas Barner confirmed as University Council chairman. The committee elected legal scholar Andreas Voßkuhle as vice chairman

Freiburg, Dec 15, 2021

Andreas Barner Re-elected as University Council Chairman

Andreas Barner (left) and Andreas Voßkuhle hold executive positions on the University Council. Photos: Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH / Klaus Polkowski

After it was newly assembled just over two months ago, the University Council re-elected Prof. Dr. Dr. Andreas Barner, a member of the Shareholder Committee of C.H. Boehringer Sohn AG & Co. KG as chairman on 6 December 2021. His new deputy will be the legal scholar Prof. Dr. Andreas Voßkuhle. The University Council is made up of eleven members – six of whom are external to the university and five internal. They are nominated by the university Senate and appointed by the Minister of Science and the Humanities.

“We are looking forward to working within the University Council not least because of the diverse abilities of the council members selected from within and outside of the university. The cooperation and interaction with the university administration – based on impressions from past terms and the first session of the new term are expected to be constructive and goal-oriented,” said Barner and Voßkuhle. According to the unanimous assessment of the chairman and vice chairman of the University Council, both will have a positive effect for the University of Freiburg.

University Council member since 2015

Andreas Barner studied medicine at the University of Freiburg and mathematics at ETH Zurich. He received his Ph.D.in mathematics in 1983 and his Ph.D. in medicine in 1985.  The president of Germany appointed him to the country’s Council of Science and Humanities in 2007. Barner was the spokesman and CEO of the corporate administration of Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, with special responsibilities in the area of pharmaceutical research, development, and medicine. After that, he became a member of the company’s shareholder committee. Barner has also been a member of the Presidium of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), and chairman of the BDI/BDA Committee for Research, Innovation, and Technology Policy.

He is a member of the Senate and Administrative Council of the Max Planck Society and the Presidium of the German Protestant Church Conference. Barner has been the president of a promotional organization for research and higher education, the “Stifterverband” since 2013, and has been chairman of the University Council of the University of Freiburg since 2015.

New Vice Chairman

Andreas Voßkuhle is the director of the Institute of Political Science and Philosophy of Law at the University of Freiburg. He was president of Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court and chairman of the Second Senate from March 2010 to June 2020. Prior to that, the professor of constitutional law was elected as rector of the University of Freiburg in 2007. He served in this capacity from April to May 2008, when he was appointed a justice and vice president of the German Federal Constitutional Court.

Voßkuhle plays a role in many academic and research committees and has been awarded many honors. He has been a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities of since 2007, a member of the Senate of the Max Planck Society since 2012, and a member of the Leopoldina – Germany’s National Academy of Sciences since 2018. Among his research emphases are constitutional law, general administrative law, the theory of government, and the theory of law.

Information on the University Council:

According to the State Higher Education Act of Baden-Württemberg, the University Council guides the university, takes responsibility with respect to strategy, sets structural and development planning policy, and proposes measures that serve image formation and increase the performance and competitive capabilities of the university. It oversees the management of the rectorate. With respect to the Ministry of Science and the Humanities, the University Council can take a position on the university’s strategic affairs at any time.

University Council

 

Contact:
Sina Hecht
Office of the University Council
University of Freiburg
Tel.: +49 (0)761 203-4374 /-96840
E-Mail: universitaetsrat@uni-freiburg.de

Judith Burggrabe
Office of University and Science Communications
University of Freiburg
Telefon: (+49) 0761 / 203 - 96769
E-Mail: judith.burggrabe@pr.uni-freiburg.de