Today, Minister President Winfried Kretschmann handed over the Order of Merit of the State of Baden-Württemberg to 25 persons, including Professor Horst Hippler, President of the German Rectors’ Conference. As former President of Universität Karlsruhe, Hippler played a key role in establishing the KIT and was its first President.
The current President of KIT, Professor Holger Hanselka, comments:
“Horst Hippler is a pioneer of vision. With determination and high personal commitment, he pushed the then daring idea of a merger of a state university with a federation-funded research center. In this way, he did not only shape Karlsruhe as a university location, but also the entire science system in Germany,” Hanselka underlines. “Together with his colleagues in the Executive Board, Hippler worked on making his vision – the KIT – come true and was supported by national and state politics. We are very much obliged to Horst Hippler. In this function as President of the German Rectors’ Conference, Hippler continued to have an eye on international competition of science institutions. I congratulate him on this highly deserved honor.”
Among the 25 persons, who were granted the Order of Merit by Minister President Kretschmann, also is a known alumnus of KIT, the astronaut Alexander Gerst. He studied at the University of Karlsruhe, one of the two precursor institutions of KIT, and was conferred his diploma in geophysics in 2003. “At KIT, we are very proud of how successful Alexander Gerst has made his way since his studies in Karlsruhe,” Hanselka says.
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.