Curriculum Vitae
Prof. Dr. Konrad Osterwalder
Switzerland
Konrad Osterwalder
Konrad Osterwalder was born in Frauenfeld, Thurgau, Switzerland, in June 1942. He studied at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule; ETH) in Zurich, where he earned a Diploma in theoretical physics in 1965 and a Doctorate in theoretical physics in 1970.
After one year with the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, he accepted a research position at Harvard University in 1971. He remained on the faculty of Harvard for seven years, and was promoted to Assistant Professor for Mathematical Physics in 1973 and Associate Professor for Mathematical Physics in 1976. In 1977, he returned to Switzerland upon being appointed a full Professor for Mathematical Physics at ETH Zurich.
During his tenure at ETH Zurich, Rector Osterwalder served as Head of the Department of Mathematics (1986–1990) and Head of the Planning Committee (1990–1995), and was founder of the Centro Stefano Franscini seminar center in Ascona. He was appointed Rector of ETH in 1995 and held that post for 12 years. From November 2006 through August 2007, he also served concurrently as ETH President pro tempore.
On 1 September 2007, Rector Osterwalder joined the United Nations University as its fifth rector. In that role, he holds the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Rector Osterwalder's research focused on the mathematical structure of relativistic quantum field theory as well as on elementary particle physics and statistical mechanics. During his long and distinguished career, he has been a Visiting Fellow/Guest Professor at several prominent universities around the world, including the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHES; Bures-sur-Yvette, France); Harvard University; University of Texas (Austin); Max Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics (Munich), Università La Sapienza (Rome); Università di Napoli; Waseda University; and Weitzmann Institute of Science (Rehovot, Israel).
Among other roles during his academic career, Rector Osterwalder has served as:
- Editor of Communications in Mathematical Physics;
- Treasurer and President of the International Association for Mathematical Physics;
- Member of the Visiting Committee of the Harvard Department of Physics;
- President of the IHÉS National Committee of the Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences;
- Member of the Advisory Council of the Euler Institute in St. Petersburg;
- Vice-President of the Conference of Rectors of Swiss Universities;
- President of the Conference of European Schools of Advanced Engineering Education and Research (CESAER);
- Member of the International Academic Advisory Panel of the Government of Singapore;
- President of UNITECH International (a collaboration between several European Technical Universities and more than 20 leading multinational corporations);
- Chairman of the Bologna-Project Group (Swiss Rectors Conference);
- President, Jury of the Brandenberger Foundation;
- Member of the Nucleo di Valutazione (supervisory council) of the Politecnico di Milano;
- Member of the Conseil Administative of the Ecole Polytechnique de France (Paris);
- Member of the "Comité de l´Enseignement" of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris;
- Member of the University Council of the Università della Svizzera Italiana;
- President Chair of the University Council of the Technical University Darmstadt;
- Head of the Evaluationsverbund Darmstadt-Kaiserslautern-Karlsruhe;
- Member, Strategic Council, Free University of Berlin;
- Member, Comitato Scientifico Alta Scuola Politecnica (Politecnici di Milano e di Torino);
- Member, Beirat Robert Bosch Stiftung; and
- Member, Academic Council of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE);
Currently he is:
- Member, Consiglio Fondazione Italian Institute of Technology
- Member of the Executive Committee of the Club of Rome
Rector Osterwalder has been a Fellow of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (1974–1978) and is a member of the Swiss Academy of Technical Sciences. He holds an honorary degree from the Helsinki Technical University and is an Honorary Member of Riga Technical University.
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Page last modified 2008.08.26.
