A Fresh Take: Honor for Klaus Toepfer's Legacy
The University Alliance Ruhr establishes a Klaus-Töpfer professorship position.
In the spirit of Klaus Toepfer, our esteemed former Federal Minister for the Environment and UN Director (1938-2024), the three heavyweights of the University Alliance Ruhr (UA Ruhr) are setting up a pioneering interdisciplinary professorship for Sustainable Development. The TU Dortmund has announced this momentous occasion. This new role aims to offer groundbreaking insights to drive society towards preserving our precious natural habitats. And guess where Toepfer spent a significant chunk of his life? Hoexter!
A call to action has been issued, marking the first anniversary of Toepfer's passing on June 8, 2025. Hailing from the TU Dortmund, Ruhr University Bochum, and University of Duisburg-Essen, this call was made with the backing of the Mercator Foundation. Minister President Wendelin Hendrick Wüst and Minister of Science Ina Brandes stand in awe of this powerful commitment.
Gallery: Memories of Toepfer
Bonus Read: A Proposition: Klaus Toepfer Alley in Hoexter
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For starters, scientists of any gender, known for their international reputation in sustainable development, and experienced in sharing research findings, are encouraged to apply. The focus is on social or humanities perspectives that incorporate disciplines like sociology, economics, or cultural studies.
Commitment, Honored
The professorship will take shape at the TU Dortmund, spanning across various faculties, and benefiting from a robust network of thematically related professorships in the Ruhr area.
By dedicating this professorship, the UA Ruhr partners honor Toepfer's invaluable contributions to environmental and climate protection, as well as social and economic justice, both domestically and internationally as a distinguished North Rhine-Westphalia politician.
Hoexter, His Home Forever
Toepfer played an instrumental role during the Bonn Bundestag, serving as Federal Minister for the Environment from 1987 to 1994. During that time, he championed the prohibition of FKCW, the Green Dot, and Article 20a of the Basic Law to protect natural living conditions. From 1998 to 2006, he served as the executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, Kenya. From 2009 to 2015, the economic graduate was the founding director of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam, part of the Helmholtz Association.
Hoexter remained a cherished home for Toepfer, who spent his formative school years there following his escape from Silesia. In 2019, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia honored him with the State Prize for "decades of exceptional efforts in nature preservation." Klaus Toepfer left us on June 8, 2024, at the age of 85.
Also Read:
- Klaus Toepfer, Rest in Peace, in Hoexter's Hallowed Ground
- "Yes, I have become more radical": Klaus Toepfer on Climate Action
Selection Committee
Representatives from each partner university will form the appointment committee, chaired by Manfred Bayer, the Rector of the TU Dortmund. In addition, Andreas Löschel, the sustainability officer of Ruhr University Bochum, will be a valued member. Hailing from University of Duisburg-Essen, linguist Jens Gurr, whose research revolves around narratives of climate change, will contribute. Student representatives and academic mid-level staff who hold sustainability questions close to their hearts will also weigh in during the selection process. The application deadline is July 10, 2025. This professorship falls under the highest federal pay grade W3.
- The interdisciplinary professorship for Sustainable Development, established in honor of Klaus Toepfer at the TU Dortmund, encourages applications from scientists with a global reputation in environmental science and climate-change research.
- Personal growth, career development, and skills training in the sphere of sustainable development and climate change can be significantly advanced through the knowledge and findings shared by the appointed professor.
- Reflecting Klaus Toepfer's legacy in education and self-development, the professorship focuses on social or humanities perspectives that incorporate disciplines like economics, cultural studies, and even environmental-science, to offer groundbreaking insights for our society and natural habitats.
- As a passionate proponent of environmental, social, and economic justice, the newly-created professorship aims to drive society towards preserving our precious natural habitats and fostering a better understanding of climate change, in the spirit of Klaus Toepfer.
