After a two-year break due to the coronavirus pandemic, six outstanding theses were awarded the 2020/2021 and 2022/2023 Wagner Family Prize at a ceremony on Tuesday, June 27, 2023, at the Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society. The award-winning theses took into account the ethical and social perspective of the the ethical and social perspective of the respective issue and focused on people. For the 2020/2021 graduating class, Sebastian Winkler, Laura Thalhammer and Marc Daniel Kretzer, and for the 2022/2023 class, Hanna Sziel, Julia Piechatzek and Simon Froschhäuser, who this year 3,000 euros each from the hands of the founder, Dr. Dieter Wagner, and his family.
The Wagner Family Sponsorship Award has been presented at the Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society since 2014 - with a two-year coronavirus break: With this award, the founding family around the long-standing Chairman of the University Council and Honorary Senator Dr. Dieter Wagner honors Bachelor's and Master's theses that deal with values and ethical-social behavior in social contexts in a scientifically sound manner. The prize once again illustrates the broad spectrum of socially relevant topics that are dealt with at the university at the interface between economics, social sciences and health sciences. On Tuesday, 27.06.2023, the "Förderpreis der Familie Wagner", endowed with a total of 3,000 euros each, was awarded twice this year at a ceremony hosted by the Departments of Services & Consulting:
The first prize of 1,500 euros for the class of 2020/2021 was awarded to Sebastian Winkler, a graduate of the Master's degree course in Healthcare Management (HCM), for his Master's thesis on "Patient autonomy at the end of life - an analysis of internet offers for advance directives". The second prize of 1,000 euros was awarded to Laura Thalhammer, a graduate of the Master's degree program in Controlling, for her thesis "Text Mining for the Analysis of Sustainability Reporting", in which she examined the sustainability reports of DAX30 companies (as of 2019) for truthfulness and transparency using an automated text analysis process. Marc Daniel Kretzer's thesis, a graduate of the Master's degree course in Fundraising Management and Philanthropy, was awarded third prize and thus 500 euros. It is entitled "Fundraising and leadership. Job Satisfaction, Institutional Readiness and Internal Organizational Influence of Fundraisers".
Hanna Sziel won the first prize, also endowed with 1,500 euros, for the class of 2022/2023. In her thesis, the graduate of the Bachelor's degree course in Social Work devoted herself to the literature-based "Discourse on non-invasive blood tests for trisomies" and discussed the need for psychosocial counseling before, during and after prenatal diagnostics. Julia Piechatzek, a graduate of the Master's degree in Controlling, took second place with prize money of 1,000 euros with her Master's thesis "The transformation of the working world: hybrid working as a decisive competitive advantage and the resulting transformative management culture". Finally, Simon Froschhäuser, graduate of the MBA program Digital Finance, Strategy & Accounting, received the third prize of 500 euros for the class of 2022/2023 with his thesis on "Intuition as a conscious decision in asset management - concepts of subjective probability in asset management".
"For academic educational institutions such as Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences, students who have completed their studies in an outstanding manner are a very special treasure. What counts for us here is the success of each individual. If they then crown their studies with an outstanding thesis, this is a reason for special joy," emphasized University President Prof. Dr. Gunther Piller in his welcoming speech. "For my family and me, the ethical and social component, the focus on people, is an important part of every degree course and an indispensable foundation for our future careers. The COVID-19 pandemic and other current challenges have once again confirmed this view," said Dr. Dieter Wagner, Chairman of the University Council and Honorary Senator of the university, explaining the motivation of the Wagner founding family. At the same time, the award naturally also shows the recognition of the students' outstanding achievements and their commitment to Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences.
Prof. Dr. Elke Raum and Prof. Dr. Andrea Rein, on behalf of the eight-member jury, presented the awards to the winners. This year's jury also included Dr. Günter Geisthardt, Prof. Dr. Harry Müller, Dieter Ott, Dr. Dieter Wagner and students Maurice Fuchs and Josephine Nolde-Zilhao.
Vivian Kürbis and Maurice Schatral provided the musical accompaniment.
After the farewell by Prof. Dr. Birgit Angermayer, Dean of the host Department of Services & Consulting, the ceremony ended with a get-together with drinks and finger food.
The "Förderpreis der Familie Wagner" will once again be awarded annually and is aimed at graduates from all four Departments of the Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society.
