FAU grants the honor of becoming an FAU Ambassador to outstanding researchers who have a glowing reputation in their research area, have been awarded international prizes or honors for their work and who have a particular connection to FAU.
Honors at Dies academicus
They represent our University in their home country and report back to the academic community on their experiences at FAU. They can tell prospective students about studying at FAU or share their experiences of research conditions at FAU with other researchers, and they can establish contacts to universities in their home countries. All FAU Ambassadors are appointed at the Dies academicus, the anniversary marking the founding of FAU at the beginning of November.
Prof. Dr. Anuscheh Farahat
Prof. Dr. Anuscheh Farahat is Professor of Public Law in its European Context at the University of Vienna. Her research focuses on national, European and international migration law, in particular participation rights, labor migration and studies on guarantees in a transnational context. In addition, Prof. Farahat investigates the protection of international human rights. With the support of this inspiring researcher, FAU would like to increase the visibility of its research into human rights. Prof. Farahat will represent FAU at a national and international level at events, conferences and presentations as well as in efforts to attract international researchers and students. FAU awarded Prof. Dr. Anuscheh Farahat the honor of FAU Ambassador in 2024.
Link to appointment as an FAU Ambassador during Dies academicus 2024 (Prof. Dr. Anuscheh Farahat)
Prof. Dr. Fatima El-Tayeb
Prof. Dr. Fatima El-Tayeb studied American Studies and Modern European History at Hamburg University, where she also completed a doctoral degree in history. She subsequently taught as a visiting lecturer at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA. From 2004 onwards, she taught and researched at the University of California in San Diego, USA. She was appointed as a researcher at Yale University, New Haven (Connecticut), USA, in 2021, where she is currently professor of Ethnicity, Race & Migration and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Due to her expertise in our key research priority of cultural values, the University awarded her the honor of FAU Ambassador in 2023.
Link to interview with Prof. Dr. Fatima El-Tayeb in the FAU Magazine: Three questions for Prof. Dr. Fatima El-Tayeb
Link toappointment as an FAU Ambassador during Dies academicus 2023 (Prof. Dr. Fatima El-Tayeb)
Prof. Dr. Cornelia Weyand
Prof. Dr. Cornelia Weyand’s research aims to gain a better understanding of the genetic, molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for triggering inflammatory diseases of the immune system. Her work focuses on inflammation in the vascular system and the autoimmune disease rheumatoid arthritis. During her career to date, Professor Weyand has researched, taught and treated patients at a number of prestigious research institutions including Stanford University’s clinics, the Mayo Clinic, the University of Glasgow, the Emory University School of Medicine and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin. She is also Chair of the Atherosclerosis and Vascular Inflammation Study Section at the National Institutes of Health. She will strengthen the existing ties between FAU and Stanford University in the area of medical research. Prof. Weyand also represents FAU at a national and international level at events, conferences and presentations as well as in efforts to attract international researchers and students from both sides of the Atlantic.
Link to appointment as an FAU Ambassador during Dies academicus 2022 (Prof. Dr. Cornelia Weyand)
Prof. Dr. Günter Weiss
Prof. Dr. Günter Weiss is one of the most highly respected scientists in the field of clinical infection and immunology research. He works at the Medical University of Innsbruck and has published more than 200 scientific articles in international journals, 36 contributions to books, and one monograph. Public awards such as the Novartis prize for medicine confirm his academic standing. Günter Weiss is a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and a frequent guest to our university. With his connections across Europe and his international reputation, Professor Weiss is ideally suited to represent FAU and support us in our efforts to attract international scientists and students.
Link to appointment as an FAU Ambassador during Dies academicus 2021 (Prof. Dr. Günter Weiss)
Prof. Dr. Ken-ichi Kakimoto
Professor Kakimoto is a material scientist and vice president of the Nagoya Institute of Technology. He has maintained close links to material scientists at FAU in the areas of research and teaching for more than ten years. Prof. Dr. Ken-ichi Kakimoto was appointed an FAU Ambassador in 2020 in recognition of his efforts for promoting the international reputation and visibility of FAU in research and teaching.
Link to appointment as an FAU Ambassador and CV Prof. Dr. Ken-ichi Kakimoto
Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Bronfen
Elisabeth Bronfen holds the Chair of English and American Studies at the University of Zurich, and was appointed a Global Distinguished Professor at New York University in 2007. Her research focuses on Anglo-American literature and visual culture in the 19th and 20th century, intermediality and gender studies. She has had several visiting professorships in the USA, in Australia, Portugal, France, Italy and Denmark. Since 2011, Prof. Dr. Bronfen has been a member of the Academia Europaea. In 2017, she was awarded the Martin Warnke medal from the Aby Warburg Foundation. Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Bronfen is the Chair of English and American Studies at the University of Zurich and is a globally recognized expert in her area. She was appointed an FAU Ambassador during the Dies academicus in 2019.
Link to interview with FAU Ambassador Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Bronfen (FAU Ambassador since 2019)
Prof. John Bessant
Originally a chemical engineer with a doctoral degree in innovation in the chemical industry, Prof. John Bessant has been active in research, teaching and consultancy in technology and innovation management for over 30 years now. He currently holds the Chair in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Exeter and is an adjunct professor at the University of Stavanger, Norway. His research interests include the management of discontinuous innovation, strategies for developing high involvement innovation and using learning networks to facilitate the spread of innovation.
He has also worked as a consultant for various national governments and international committees such as the United Nations, the World Bank and the OECD.
Link to interview with FAU Ambassador Prof. John Bessant (FAU Ambassador since 2018)
Prof. Michael J. Puett, PhD
Michael Puett is the Walter C. Klein Professor of Chinese History and Anthropology at the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilization at Harvard University, and chair of Harvard University’s Committee on the Study of Religion.
In 2011, he worked as a visiting fellow at the International Consortium for Research in the Humanities “Fate, Freedom and Prognostication in East Asia and Europe” (IKGF) at FAU. Since then, he has been a member of the academic advisory board at the IKGF.
Link to interview with FAU Ambassador Prof. Michael J. Puett, Ph.D. (FAU Ambassador since 2017)
Prof. Vijay K. Bhargava, PhD
Professor Vijay K. Bhargava, PhD, is one of the leading minds in the field of communications engineering and is currently leading a project on wireless systems of the fifth generation. He is a professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He is an active researcher, who has been involved in writing more than seven books and more than 500 contributions to journals and conferences, and who has won many important national and international awards.
That apart, he has a wide network of scientific contacts and staff across the globe, as he holds scholarships from four academic societies. Professor Bhargava spent the academic year 2015-2016 as a Humboldt award winner at FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg. He was officially appointed an FAU Ambassador on November 4, 2016.
Link to interview with FAU Ambassador Prof. Vijay K. Bhargava, Ph.D. (FAU Ambassador since 2016)
Prof. Dr. DhC Enrique Zuazua
Prof. Dr. DhC Enrique Zuazua is one of the leading minds in the area of applied mathematics. He is an Alexander von Humboldt Professor and holds the Chair of Applied Analysis at FAU. Zuazua has taught and researched as a visiting professor in the USA, Brazil, and Cambridge, as well as at several French universities.