IHK-Chair of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises –

On January 12, 2013, our esteemed donor passed away at the age of 95 years.

For many years, Ms. Schneider has been not only an esteemed donor to us all, who has always remained true to her and her husband's long-term goals, but also a wise counselor and friend. The WHU Foundation and the university it supports have a lot to thank her for.

All previous scholarship holders, students and doctoral students, will also be grateful and respectful of Mrs. Schneider and her continued interest in her scientific and personal advancement.

Mrs. Schneider has been a role model for us, showing us what entrepreneurial spirit and dedication - even to a high and blessed age - can achieve. Her extraordinary personality, her refreshing, subtle humor, her humanity and her optimism will all be greatly missed.

We will always remember Ms. Schneider as a special person and always honor her work.

Univ. Dr. Thomas Fischer, holder of the Chair of Business Administration, in particular Business Information Systems and Information Management at WHU  in January 2013

• Born November 17, 1911 in Bielefeld
• Holder of the WHU Medal of Honor

On October 23, 2005 Mr. Erich Schneider died just days before his 94th birthday.

His professional career began with a commercial education in the hotel industry. He experienced the war between 1941 and 1945 as a soldier on the eastern front. The desire to become a journalist since his youth came true after the war. He became sales manager of the "Mittelrhein-Kurier" in Bad Ems and in 1948 co-shareholder of Mittelrhein-Verlag, where he took over responsibility for the company for almost 18 years after being appointed to the management in 1957. During this time, Mr. Erich Schneider promoted, among other things, modern forms of electronic data processing and made a lasting contribution to the positive development of the publishing house. Extra-occupational, he completed the study of business administration at the University of Cologne.

His honorary commitment in the social and social field should be mentioned. Mr. Schneider represented the concerns of the industry as chairman of the regional association of newspaper publishers Rhineland-Palatinate-Saar and in other bodies of the Federal Association of newspaper publishers. He was a member of the board of directors of the supply work of the press, on the board of the general local health insurance funds, advisory board of the pension fund as well as in the ZDF television advice. He also served as Chairman of the Board of the Economic Cooperative of the Press. Mr. Schneider received many honors for this extraordinary effort. A special appreciation of his work was the awarding of the Grand Cross of Merit of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

On April 1, 1998, Mr. Schneider together with his wife, founded the Irmgard and Erich Schneider Foundation at WHU with the aim of supporting students and postgraduate students in the field of Business Informatics and Information Management. Thus, Mr. Schneider not only made it possible to equip a multimedia laboratory, but also supported a variety of student activities, the implementation of which would not have been possible without the donations made by the foundation of the publishing couple. Particularly noteworthy here are the student projects myWHU, IdeaLab! as well as Eurosport.

As Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Irmgard and Erich Schneider Foundation, he has personally ensured that a large part of the annual foundation funds directly benefits the students. He has always been extremely interested in the development of the university and especially in the department. His open-mindedness for modern information and communication technologies and their importance for the economy and society has always impressed and encouraged us.

We complain about the loss of an outstanding and exemplary man whose commitment to business informatics and information management at WHU will leave lasting traces and that we will always respect and honor beyond death.

Univ. Dr. Thomas Fischer, Chair of Business Administration, in particular Business Informatics and Information Management at WHU, in October 2005