From left: Prof. Dr. M. Butzlaff and Prof. Dr. H. P. Bauer

During its shareholders' meeting on March 26, 2015 the University of Witten/Herdecke (UW/H) bid farewell to Prof. Dr. Horst Philipp Bauer, who had served as chair of this board on behalf of the Software AG Foundation, together with Dirg-Lothar Ollinger. “As shareholder representative for the Software AG Foundation, Professor Bauer made a substantial contribution to the maintenance and consolidation of our university,” said Prof. Dr. Martin Butzlaff, President of the UW/H. At the same time that the university bid farewell to Professor Bauer, it released current figures showing positive equity. According to President Butzlaff, Horst Philipp Bauer played a significant role in this success. As a board member and representative of the Software AG Foundation, which became a shareholder in 2009 and is now is the majority shareholder, Professor Bauer watched over the preservation and consolidation of the university with a careful and steady hand. The President wished Professor Bauer all the best for his “non-retirement” and presented him with a touring bicycle as a parting gift, which symbolized the Professor's continued activity after his official retirement. 

Horst Philipp Bauer thanked the university choir for its musical contribution to the event. In a farewell speech he recalled the history of the cooperation between the Software AG Foundation and the University. He recalled the “long night in the Ministry of Science” in Düsseldorf in 2009, during the course of a which the parties present had agreed upon a “key points declaration” to save the UW/H. He highlighted the role of Michael Anders, Chancellor and Director of the university, who made a significant contribution to its economic development. The arrival of Jan-Peter Nonnenkamp as Chancellor and Prof. Dr. Rudi Wimmer as Vice President, who worked “in tandem” with President Prof. Dr. Martin Butzlaff, created a very successful university management team, said Professor Bauer. With these leaders at the helm, both the academic and financial sides of the university were soon in order; they also sharpened the profile of the university to face today's challenges. In closing he thanked the representatives of each of the shareholders for their confidence in the leadership of the shareholders' meeting and for their constructive cooperation. Professor Bauer symbolically handed over the “baton” to his fellow board member Markus Ziener, but stressed that he would also assume responsibility for higher education in his future position and hoped to maintain the good relationship with the UW / H in this context.