In 2011, EUCOR, the European Confederation of Universities on the Upper Rhine, for the first time grants an EUCOR medal to an outstanding personality with special merits in border-crossing cooperation, namely, to the artist Tomi Ungerer. During a ceremony on Monday, December 05, 18 hrs, at the Audimax (KIT Campus South), KIT President and EUCOR President Professor Dr. Horst Hippler will hand over the medal. Representatives of the media are cordially invited.
The laudation, hand-over of the medal, and the speech by Tomi Ungerer will be followed by an invited presentation: Professor Frank Schultmann from the German-French Institute for Environmental Research (DFIU) of KIT will speak about German-French cooperation in environmental research. He will present successfully completed and current research projects in the Upper Rhine Valley and explain future perspectives.
“The members of the EUCOR confederation unanimously agreed to bestow an honor for the better visibility of special and long-term merits in the German-Swiss-French relations. With Tomi Ungerer as the first laureate, we have found a highly committed and highly respected personality. This also is a personal pleasure,” says Professor Horst Hippler on the occasion of the conferral of the first EUCOR Medal. Tomi Ungerer, who celebrated his 80th birthday on November 28, is graphic designer, illustrator, and author. Born in Strasbourg, he considers himself a convinced European. His works are also crossing borders and can hardly be surpassed in diversity. Ungerer is known for his childbook illustrations, commercial graphics, political cartoons, and satiric posters. Tomi Ungerer was born in a family of clockmakers. As a young man, he traveled through Europe and published first drawings in the ‘Simplicissimus’. In the mid-1950s, he went to New York. After some years on a farm in the Canadian Nova Scotia, he returned to Europe. Today, Tomi Ungerer is living in Southwest Ireland and Strasbourg together with his family. In 2007, the “Musée Tomi Ungerer – Centre International de l’Illustration” was established in his home town.
The European Confederation of Universities on the Upper Rhine EUCOR, established in 1989, is a German-French-Swiss meta network. EUCOR wants to support cooperation of the member universities in research and education, administration, culture, and sports and to enhance mobility of the students. With about 103,000 students and more than 11,000 teachers and researchers, EUCOR universities supply most of the research and teaching potential in the tri-national metropolitan Upper Rhine region. Since its foundation in 1989, the members of the EUCOR Confederation have been Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, the University of Basel, the Université de Strasbourg, and the Université de Haute-Alsace Mulhouse-Colmar.
Program of the EUCOR ceremony on December 05, 18.00 hrs, Audimax
Musical opening
Welcome address by the EUCOR President
Welcome address by a representative of the state of Baden-Württemberg
Welcome address by a representative of Alsace
Welcome address by a representative of Switzerland
Laudation and hand-over of the EUCOR medal to Tomi Ungerer by President Horst Hippler
Speech by Tomi Ungerer
Invited presentation: „German-French Environmental Research in the Upper Rhine Valley – Examples and Perspectives“
Professor Frank Schultmann,
German-French Institute for Environmental Research of KIT
Musical finale
Reception
Being “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 10,000 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,800 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.