On June 1, 2022, Prof. Dr. Stefan Kronenberger, Professor of Economics at the Department of Management, Controlling, HealthCare at HWG Ludwigshafen, former Dean of the Departments and Vice President of the university, retired. The invitation from Prof. Dr. Häusler, Dean of the Department of Management, Controlling, HealthCare, was accepted by colleagues from all Departments and employees of the Department, as well as students and graduates
. Prof. Dr. Kronenberger's wife and sons were also present at his place of work. The tribute paid by the Dean and President as well as the lively attendance made it clear that a highly respected and popular university lecturer was being bid farewell to his well-deserved retirement.
With a twinkle in his eye, as an economist he looked at the different subject-specific characteristics of economists and business economists and the challenges of working with the latter.
In his farewell lecture on "Homo Oeconomicus in the Diaspora", he summarized the essence of his experiences and insights in an equally inspiring and humorous way.
Prof. Dr. Kronenberger was appointed to the university in 1993 and was Dean of the Management, Controlling, HealthCare Department and Vice President for Studies and Education at the university for several terms. During his time as Dean, he paid particular attention to strengthening the profile in the area of international affairs and the quality of education. He also developed the subject area of health economics for the Department. The students' evaluation of his own courses shows that he brings his whole personality to bear as a teacher. Quoting from student feedback, Prof. Dr. Häusler enumerated a whole list of impressive characteristics: complex topics are explained with a high level of competence and good examples; very well structured; many references to current topics of the day, the relevance of the topics becomes clear through the links; empathetic, motivating and approachable to the students. Unsurprisingly, the willingness to remain involved in education after the end of his active service as a senior professor was welcomed by students and the Department as a whole.
As far as Prof. Dr. Kronenberger's work for the university is concerned, the changeover from Diplom to Bachelor's and Master's degrees as part of the Bologna Process remains associated with his name. President Piller reminded the audience that he campaigned emphatically and successfully at state level for the introduction of Master's degree courses at the state's universities of applied sciences.
It should be added that the Department has translated the great importance of this building block of academic (further) education into attractive courses with the Masters in Controlling, Innovation Management and Healthcare Management - HCM. This is a good prerequisite for attracting young university lecturers who, in addition to their commitment to application-oriented, high-quality education, also have a strong interest in research. With the successful appointment of Prof. Dr. Niklas Wölfing to the professorship of Economics in succession to Prof. Dr. Kronenberger, we have succeeded in doing just that.
We would like to thank Prof. Dr. Kronenberger for his enriching curiosity, the professionally challenging and at the same time motivating collaboration and the great commitment with which he contributed his ideas to the work at the university.
