At its meeting on November 11, 2019, the Supervisory Board of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) elected Professor Michael Kaschke, CEO of the ZEISS Group, as its new Chairman. He will succeed Professor Renate Schubert from ETH Zurich, who chaired the Supervisory Board from March 2012 to September 2019. The new Supervisory Board of KIT has been in office since October 01, 2019.
“Thanks to its excellent research, academic education, and innovation activities, KIT is one of the highly renowned universities in Germany with a wide international reach. International networking as well as cooperation with industry to produce innovations will gain importance in the future,” Professor Michael Kaschke says. “Together with the other members of the Supervisory Board, I look forward to accompanying KIT on its way. I personally feel committed to advancing science and education, which is another reason why I look forward to my additional activity at KIT.”
“For the strategic further development of KIT, the Supervisory Board is a very important partner. Professor Michael Kaschke is highly experienced in research, teaching, innovation, and science policy,” says the President of KIT, Professor Holger Hanselka. “It is our goal to well position the KIT as The Research University in the Helmholtz Association on both the national and international level. I am very happy that the new Chairperson, together with the other Supervisory Board members, will support us in this effort.”
Professor Michael Kaschke, born in 1957, has been member of the Board of Management of the ZEISS Group since 2000 and CEO of the ZEISS Group since 2011. His work will end in April 2020, as planned. In 2014, Michael Kaschke was appointed to the German Council of Science and Humanities, Germany’s most important scientific-political advisory board. Since 2009, he has been Honorary Professor of the KIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, where he gives regular lectures on optical medical technology and innovation management. Kaschke studied physics and was conferred his doctorate for a thesis on the generation and use of ultra-short laser pulses. In addition to his new office as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of KIT, Michael Kaschke is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, member of the Supervisory Boards of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, Deutsche Telekom AG, and Robert Bosch GmbH, as well as Chairman of the Aalen University Council.
As Chairman of the KIT Supervisory Board, Michael Kaschke succeeds Renate Schubert of ETH Zurich, who chaired the Supervisory Board from March 2012 to September 2019.
The KIT Supervisory Board watches over the development and profiling of The Research University in the Helmholtz Association and creates the framework conditions required to enhance its performance and competitiveness. Among others, it elects the full-time members of the Executive Board and adopts the structure and development plan as well as the construction plan. The Supervisory Board meets three times per year. Its eleven members are in office for four years, re-election is possible.
The Members of the KIT Supervisory Board:
Professor Dr. sc. nat. Michael Kaschke,
CEO of the ZEISS Group, Oberkochen
Chairman of the KIT Supervisory Board
Professor Dr. Gerald Haug,
Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz
Dr. Andreas Keller,
Deputy Chairman of the Trade Union for Education and Science, Frankfurt
Susanne Kunschert,
Managing Partner of Pilz GmbH & Co. KG, Ostfildern
Professorin Dr. Catrin Misselhorn,
University of Göttingen
Professorin Dr. Anke-Susanne Müller,
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Professor Dr. Jörg Neugebauer,
Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung (Max Planck Institute for Iron Research), Düsseldorf
Stefan Quandt,
Chairman of the Administrative Council of AQTON SE
Ministerialdirektorin Professorin Dr.-Ing. Ina Schieferdecker,
Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Berlin
Professorin Dr. Kerstin Schill,
Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg, Delmenhorst
Ministerialdirigentin Dr. Simone Schwanitz,
Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts, Stuttgart
In close partnership with society, KIT develops solutions for urgent challenges – from climate change, energy transition and sustainable use of natural resources to artificial intelligence, sovereignty and an aging population. As The University in the Helmholtz Association, KIT unites scientific excellence from insight to application-driven research under one roof – and is thus in a unique position to drive this transformation. As a University of Excellence, KIT offers its more than 10,000 employees and 22,800 students outstanding opportunities to shape a sustainable and resilient future. KIT – Science for Impact.