No. 06 • 16 January 2012

Newly elected DAAD President Prof. Dr. Margret Wintermantel and Prof. Dr. Joybrato Mukherjee, President of Justus Liebig University Giessen and new Vice-President of the DAAD as of January 2012, have presented the goals and future key aspects of their work in the framework of a press conference at the Wissenschaftsforum on Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin. For the first time the DAAD – the largest academic exchange organisation world-wide – has announced an annual motto for 2012: „A Changing Society – Change by Exchange“. After the press conference more than 300 guests from the fields of politics, science and management as well as delegates from many foreign embassies in Germany celebrated the start of the tenure of the new DAAD management in Berlin.

The President of Justus Liebig University (JLU), Prof. Mukherjee, regards his election to DAAD Vice-President in June last year as "the most formative personal experience of the year 2011", since it is a great sign of confidence. He profited from DAAD scholarships himself and looks forward to promoting the goals of the DAAD in the future. These include an increase in international students at German universities, further growth in the international mobility of German students, targeted internationalisation strategies, and finding solutions for global problems.

Prof. Mukherjee succeeded Prof. Dr. Max Huber in his office on January 1. Prof. Dr. Max Huber had been Vice-President of the DAAD since 1996 and DAAD President from the end of February 2011 until the end of that year. Prof. Mukherjee represents the DAAD President "in internal affairs when the management is prevented for any reasons as well as externally and in matters constantly or occassionally assigned by the President", according to the statutes.

Prof. Joybrato Mukherjee has been President of JLU Giessen since Dezember 16, 2009. Since 2008 he had been responsible for studies and teaching at JLU as JLU's First Vice-President. Due to the serious illness of his predecessor Prof. Dr. Stefan Hormuth (former President of the DAAD) who died in 2010, he had already taken over the official functions of President of Justus Liebig University Giessen in March 2009.

Mukherjee accepted the C4/W3 professorship for English Linguistics at Justus Liebig University Giessen in 2003. His main research interests are computational corpus linguistics, applied linguistics, English syntax as well as varieties of English. He is Principal Investigator at JLU's International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture (GCSC), funded by the German Initiative for Excellence to Promote Institutions of Higher Education, section speaker at JLU's Centre for Media and Interactivity (ZMI), and project leader of the LOEWE focus group "Cultural Techniques and their Medialization". He neglected professorships at the Universities of Zurich and Salzburg and stayed at JLU Giessen.
His election to Germany's youngest University President in July 2009 sent enormous waves through Germany's media. At the election, Mukherjee was successful already in the first ballot.

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Press Office of JLU
Ludwigstrasse 23, 35390 Giessen
Tel: ++49 (0)641 99-12042/3/8

The Press Office of Justus Liebig University Giessen, Tel.: ++49 (0)641 99-12041