Opening lecture and award ceremony for the Dr. Michael Endres Prize
What political, economic, and social future lies ahead if the European Union begins to disintegrate? With far-right, nationalist parties on the rise across the continent and the United Kingdom planning for Brexit, worries about the future of the EU have turned from abstract to very real. In his lecture on 'Fragility and resilience: What can save Europe from itself?', Bulgarian thinker and writer Ivan Krastev reflects on the problems the EU faces on many fronts, from the recent migration crisis to the spread of right-wing populism, and offers his ideas about how Europe can bolster its resilience – and what will happen if it does not. The lecture by Ivan Krastev marks the official opening of the academic year to welcome all incoming and returning students at the Hertie School. It also serves as an intellectual impulse for the public policy community in Berlin.
On this occasion, Chairman of the Hertie Foundation and prize jury member Frank-Jürgen Weise will present the first Dr. Michael Endres Prize, honouring outstanding academic personalities in the school's fields of research, to Theodor Baums, Professor for Civil, Trade and Business Law at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main.
Welcome: Helmut K. Anheier is President of the Hertie School and Professor of Sociology. His research centres on indicator systems, social innovation, culture, philanthropy, and organisational studies. Anheier is the principal academic lead of the Hertie School's annual Governance Report (Oxford University Press). He also holds a Chair of Sociology at Heidelberg University and serves as Academic Director of the Centre for Social Investment.
Laudation and presentation of the Dr. Michael Endres Prize to Theodor Baums: Frank-Jürgen Weise has been the Chairman of the Board of the Hertie Foundation since 2014. Since 2017, Weise was also the German government's Commissioner for Refugee Management. During his career, he has assumed many roles, including controller, executive, and board member in industry. At the German Federal Agency for Employment he was a Member of the Management Board from 2002, and subsequently CEO, until March 2017. In addition, Weise headed up the Bundeswehr Structural Commission and the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.
Remarks by the laureate: Theodor Baums is Professor for Civil, Trade and Business Law at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. He is an expert on corporate governance, copublisher of various journals and the author of numerous publications, an advisor to national and international organisations, and a member of the government commission on the German Corporate Governance Codex. He is a recipient of the Service Cross First Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Euro Corporate Governance Leadership Award. He has been a professor at numerous universities in Germany and abroad and has taught at the Goethe University since 2000.
Opening lecture: Ivan Krastev is Chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia and Permanent Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences, Vienna. He is a founding board member of the European Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Board of Trustees of The International Crisis Group and is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. His latest books in English are “After Europe” (UPenn Press, May 2017) “Democracy Disrupted. The Politics of Global Protest” (UPenn Press, May 2014), and “In Mistrust We Trust: Can Democracy Survive When We Don't Trust Our Leaders?” (TED Books, 2013). He is currently working on a book with NYU professor Stephen Holmes on Russian politics.
Introduction and moderation: Alina Mungiu-Pippidi is Professor of Democracy Studies at the Hertie School in Berlin. Her research centres on anti-corruption policy and good governance. Mungiu-Pippidi chairs the European Research Centre for Anti-Corruption and State-Building (ERCAS) where she manages the FP7 research project ANTICORRP, and the Horizon 2020 project DIGIWHIST.
Prior to the opening lecture, we would like to invite you to our EMPA master's thesis poster exhibition and award ceremony. All graduating students of the Executive Master of Public Administartion (EMPA) will present their thesis projects in a poster exhibition. A poster award committee consisting of Andrea Römmele (Hertie School), Anne von Fallois (Kienbaum Consultants International), and others, will select the best poster. Please sign up for the event here.
