Former Chancellor of Federal Republic of Germany To Visit Campus

The former chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany will visit the UW–Madison May 31.

The occasion will be the first meeting of the Alexander von Humboldt Association of America May 30-June 1. Helmut Schmidt will join Richard Burt, former U.S. ambassador to Germany, in a plenary session May 31 at 9 a.m. in Music Hall. Also speaking at the meeting will be Benno Parthier, president of the German Leopoldina Academy and Neal Lane, director of the U.S. National Science Foundation. They will speak June 1 at 9 a.m. at the Concourse Hotel.

The meeting also will include workshops on the impact of electronic transmission on teaching and research and another on whether “green” industries and environmental stewardship are compatible. The workshops will be held in parallel sessions May 31 at 2 p.m. in Grainger Hall.

According to Klaus L. Berghahn, who chairs the Department of German, the fact that the association chose to meet in Madison testifies to the strong ties between the university and Germany.

“It demonstrates once more how important UW–Madison is for German academic institutions and how well UW–Madison is connected with Germany,” he says.

Now in its second year, the Alexander von Humboldt Association of America is composed of American recipients of scholarships, fellowships and prizes from the Alexander Humboldt Foundation. The AHAA promotes scholarly, professional, educational and scientific contact among its members in this country and in Germany. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, created in 1860 in Germany, offers internationally recognized scholars opportunities to travel to Germany to collaborate with colleagues there.

All meeting events will be free and open to the public, although tickets are required for the Helmut Schmidt-Richard Burt session. For more information, contact Berghahn at(608) 262-2192.