uni'alumni 2012_ENG

Burkart Knospe is chief executive of- ficer of Testo AG in Lenzkirch, a flourishing international corporation with 2,500 employees. Eva Opitz spoke with him about his new function as chairman of the Freiburg University Council. uni’alumni: Mr. Knospe, you took over as chairman of the University Council in April 2011. Why? Burkart Knospe: The University of Freiburg is my alma mater. I have a strong emotional bond with the institu- tion. I learned the fundamentals of self- organization as a student here, and, perhaps more importantly, I was exposed to and learned to appreciate ordoliberal- ism, the world view for which the Freiburg School is rightly known in the entire field of economics. It has become my own world view. How were you received as the new chairman of the University Council? Very well. It helped that I already had a year and a half of experience as a coun- cil member and wasn’t entirely new. I have always found the atmosphere in this distinguished committee to be very respectful and pleasant. The council is designed to integrate successful managers and take advantage of their experience. So there was no acclimatization phase? It of course takes a while to build bridg- es. In the beginning, it was important for me to better familiarize myself with the university’s needs and constraints be- fore introducing new concepts and methods into the discussion. A momen- tous decision will be made in the com- ing year concerning the university’s ­future with the Excellence competition. The university’s excellence radiates throughout the entire region. Eminent scholars conduct research and teach here, and students receive an above- average education. How great are the differences ­between a private business and the “business” of running a uni- versity? A private business is dominated by a clear system of goals. We want to grow, and all of our operations have the ­purpose of furthering this goal. This is more complex at a university with its many disciplines. My impression is that the situation is more heterogeneous as far as goals and interests are con- cerned. What are your guiding principles for running a company? I attach importance to an open discus- sion. My credo is that everyone in the company should have the right and the chance to understand why things work in a certain way or why he or she is ­doing something. If something is not ­understandable, there has either been an error in thinking or it hasn’t been ­explained well enough. In both cases, the person asking the question helps the business. You are married, have two children, and are an active member of sev- eral social organizations. How do you find time for everything? It can be quite a burden, and I don’t have much free time. However, the ­future of the University of Freiburg is close to my heart, and the new year will bring important developments for it. For such a short period in relation to the ­entire history of the university, I am thus happy to volunteer my services and shoulder a part of the responsibility. Freiburg is His Alma Mater Economist Burkart Knospe Is Chairman of the University Council Burkart Knospe completed his studies in economics in Freiburg in 1989. He began his career at Testo in 1992 as the managing ­director of the company’s American marketing subsidiary in New Jersey. After returning from the USA in 1998, he worked as managing direc- tor for marketing in Lenzkirch and spokesman of management for the company’s marketing, finance, and human resources departments. For the past ten years he has served as chief executive officer of Testo AG. A father of two children, Knospe is familiar with the aca- demic world thanks, among other things, to his teaching assignments at the Humboldt University in ­Berlin. Photo: Bamberger INTerVIEW 23uni'alumni 2012 University News