The Teachers

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(© Kasskara)

The Virtuoso JULIA FISCHER

She’s hardly distinguishable from her students. In fact she even younger than most of them: Professor Julia Fischer, 23, is a professional violinist. She has been teaching at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt am Main since October 2006 – violin, of course. Julia Fischer is very relaxed about her “young professor” title. She’s accustomed to early achievements: she was given her first violin at the age of three, at nine she studied at the musical academy in Munich. As a teenager she performed with stars such as Yehudi Menuhin or Lorin Maazel. The critics are impressed by the “formidable technical perfection” displayed by this highly sought-after international soloist. Paris, New York, Budapest – Julia Fischer is permanently on tour. Parallel to performing she now gives intensive courses twice a month and has four students at the moment. She is convinced that “too many lessons can be destructive, because they can hamper independent development”.

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(© Mathematikum Giessen/Rolf K. Wegst)

The Mathematician ALBRECHT BEUTELSPACHER

“Maths makes you feel good” – it’s with statements like this that Albrecht Beutelspacher confronts teachers with traditionally false concepts. The unconventional “discrete mathematics” expert has been professor at Giessen University since 1988. He’s an advocate of more imagination in maths teaching with a real “hands-on” approach to mathematical questions. He sees maths quite simply as the art of discovering things through independent thought. Professor Beutelspacher has also founded the Mathematikum in Giessen, a mathematical activity museum. 100 experiments offer visitors playful access to the world of numbers – mathematics as an emotional experience. Long live the fun factor.


The Artist NEO RAUCH

He’s seen as reserved and shy – but he still managed to spark off an art revolution: an overthrow of visual conventions, a boom in young German art.

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(© dpa/Grubitzsch )

Neo Rauch, the most famous representative of the “new Leipzig school” and godfather of the “German painting miracle”, reintroduced concrete representation to art. In the 1980s he was himself a master-class student at the Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts (HGB). And the artist, whose works are traded in New York at astronomical prices, has always remained loyal to his home town. So it’s only logical that the 46-year-old artist accepted an appointment to his alma mater in August 2005 to help develop the talents of the next generation: Neo Rauch now teaches the painting and graphic design class at the HGB as the successor of his own professor Arno Rink. His main emphasis is of course figurative painting “liberated from the constrictions of academic corsets and independent of modern doctrines”. Professor Rauch’s favourite method is teaching on a one-to-one basis, to encourage the budding artists to find their own way and develop their own creative potential.


The Chemist JUN OKUDA

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(© RWTH Aachen)

“Postmetallocene: New Molecular Polymerization Catalysts” is the title of a lecture held by Professor Jun Okuda in January 2007 at the Technical University in Dresden. Not exactly a Return to topic for amateurs, more like food for specialists. Jun Okuda is a leading authority in the field of polymer research and the German world champion in this discipline. In principle, it’s all about the basic essentials of the plastic bag, the individual components of modern plastics. That’s the speciality of Jun Okuda, who was born in Japan and came to Germany at six years of age together with his parents in 1966. His father was an assistant professor at the RWTH Aachen University. After studying chemistry in Aachen with stays in Cambridge, Munich, Albany/New York, Marburg and Mainz, Jun Okuda has now held the chair for inorganic chemistry in Aachen since 2003, accompanied by an impressive team of 15 assistant professors. His scientific belief is that “we’re (hopefully) at the beginning of a technological-civilizational development, which sees nature and humankind as a whole and by no means as opposites.”

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(© dpa/Carstensen)

The Physician MARKUS BÜCHLER

“Intelligent surgery” is the keyword for physician Markus Büchler: it’s the name of the graduate academy where the 51-year-old director of Heidelberg’s university clinic for surgery and experts in general, visceral and casualty surgery work together with a highly qualified team of young scientists to develop new techniques for the operating theatres of the future. Computers, robotics, interactive imaging – the scope of surgeons’ work is currently undergoing major innovative changes. They have an amazing spectrum of possibilities. At the same time modern medical technology presents them with substantial new challenges. The trailblazing project involves the Ruprecht-Karls University Heidelberg, the Technical University of Karlsruhe and the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg. The advantage: medical experts join forces with engineers and natural scientists in the work headed by Professor Büchler in order to develop new computer-based measuring and operating techniques.


The Economist BEATRICE WEDER DI MAURO

“Weder who?” asked the economics pundits when the Swiss woman was appointed to the Sachverständigenrat, Germany’s most important panel of economics experts, in June 2004. She was the first woman, the first foreigner and the youngest ever member to join this prestigious brains trust.

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(© dpa)

Today Beatrice Weder di Mauro, 41, is the most famous economist in Germany and a popular guest with the media when the distinguished panel publishes its annual report on the country’s economic development. After all, the expertise of the five members of Germany’s Council of Economics Experts shapes the economic and political debates of the world’s third largest economy. Beatrice Weder di Mauro grew up in Guatemala and Switzerland. She speaks seven languages, including Russian and Japanese. Following work with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, she began teaching international macroeconomics at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz in 2001. Her major research fields include questions on international economic relations and financial markets. The dedicated professor also has a son, so she’s able to pass on some very useful tips about time management for busy professionals in leading positions.

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(© dpa/Grimm)

The Analyst BERT RÜRUP

When he talks about the future, it’s usually in visionary terms, as if he’d like to embrace new horizons. And Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Bert Rürup, who was born in 1943, certainly enjoys talking about the future and new horizons, not only in the lecture hall. After all, the professor of economics at the Darmstadt University of Technology (TUD) is probably the most famous political advisor in Germany. Since his appointment as head of the Expert Commission for the Reorganization of the Taxation of Pension Provisions and Retirement Earnings in 2002 as well as the Commission for Sustainability in Social Security Financing, the expert on pensions and health care has been navigating the complex terrain between politics, interest groups and science. The man, after whom the Rürup Commission has meanwhile been named, is also a much sought-after television guest, because he talks straight about what he stands up for and avoids exaggerated chatty tones when he’s in the studio. Brilliant expert knowledge, razor sharp, unerring analysis, seriousness and integrity.


The Filmmaker WIM WENDERS

The succinct entry in the list of teaching staff at the Hamburg Academy of Arts (HFBK) simply says: “Wenders, Wim – Professor for film”. The HFBK gained a true master of film when the director of Paris, Texas and Buena Vista Social Club arrived in 2003, the man who sounds out the extremes of reality and fiction, images and stories with such ease and virtuosity.

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(© dpa/Schulze)

Wim Wenders holds block seminars on visual perception and filmmaking, and is also involved in developing innovative concepts for studying the moving image at academies of art. The HFBK greatly values artistic exchanges between architects, designers and painters, and teaching is not categorized in such traditional subjects as “cinematography”, “scriptwriting” or “directing”. Instead it embraces projects such as “animated film”, “documentary film” or “experimental film”. And it’s a great success: many of the most well-known, prizewinning young directors, such as Fatih Akin, Lars Becker, Oliver Hirschbiegel or Hermine Huntgeburth have learned their art in Hamburg.

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(© dpa/Deutscher Hochschulverband)

The award winner RUDOLF GUTHOFF

He “combines academic brilliance with extraordinary social commitment to create links between continents”, which is why the German Federation of Higher Education Teachers (DHV) awarded Rudolf Guthoff its very first title of Higher Education Teacher of the Year 2006. The medical professor and director of the Rostock University Eye Clinic is particularly involved in combating cataracts, the commonest cause of blindness. He regularly travels to the Republic of Congo together with colleagues from Rostock. The Rostock Eye Clinic has now established a partnership with St. Joseph’s Hospital in Kinshasa where Guthoff and his team treat mainly children and young people. In Rostock Guthoff is also highly involved in the training of eye specialists from Central Africa.


The Nobel Prize winner THEODOR W. HÄNSCH

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(© (c) dpa/Leonhardt )

Theodor W. Hänsch managed to astonish his colleagues with seemingly simple tricks even as a young postdoctoral student at Stanford University. His ability to provide simple answers to highly complex questions distinguishes the quantum expert from Munich. In 2005 Theodor W. Hänsch received the Nobel Prize in Physics. The director of the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics and professor at the Ludwig Maximilians University (LMU) in Munich was acknowledged for his contributions towards the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy. “We are insignificant as individuals,” says Hänsch while describing his passion for physics. “But experiencing that you can discover something that helps everyone – that’s an uplifting feeling.” It’s something he gladly passes on to future generations at the university in Munich.