1 July 2015. The German Federal President Joachim Gauck paid tribute to Wolfgang Schürer’s outstanding philanthropic dedication and his commitment to an intercultural and intergenerational dialogue among academics. It is only in very few cases that the Federal President presents the Order of Merit in person.

Wolfgang Schürer, born in Coburg in 1946, is a Swiss national and lives in St. Gallen. Besides his activities as a consultant, he was a lecturer and, later, a Visiting Professor of the Management of International Corporations and Public Affairs at the University of St.Gallen (HSG). He was also Professor of Practice of International Business Diplomacy at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.

Provider of ideas for the St. Gallen Symposium

When Wolfgang Schürer graduated in Social and Economic Sciences at the University of St.Gallen, he was already among the founders of the International Students’ Committee (ISC), the student association which has organised the St. Gallen Symposium ever since 1970. The conference encourages an intercultural and intergenerational dialogue between the leaders of today and tomorrow.

From 1989 to 2009, Wolfgang Schürer was a member of the Curatorium and a special representative of the Hague Academy of International Law, in which capacity he focused on the promotion of young lawyers from all over the world.

The concept of the Generation Workshop also had an impact on his honorary work for the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings. Since 2000, Wolfgang Schürer has been Chairman of the Foundation Board of Directors and since 2003 a member of the Council – of whose committee he was Vice-President until last year.

Wolfgang Schürer was a full-time member of numerous boards of directors and is an honorary member of many associations and boards of trustees. He received various awards for his dedication, among them the Mentor Prize of the Student Union of the University of St.Gallen (twice) for his services as a long-standing coach for students. In 1999, Wofgang Schürer was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of St.Gallen.

In the service of society

The Grand Cross of the Order of Merit with Star represents the fifth of the eight levels of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Wolfgang Schürer was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit by Federal President Roman Herzog as early as 1999. The Order of Merit is awarded to German and foreign nationals for political, economic and social, as well as intellectual achievements, as well as for any special merit in the service of the Federal Republic of Germany, for instance in the fields of social services and charity. It is the only general order of merit in Germany and thus the highest recognition that the Federal Republic is able to award for services to the common good.

Bild: Christian Flemming/ Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings