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JUFA Reunion 2019 in Denver

5/6/2019

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​The Denver Reunion of the Jacobs University Foundation of America has been a roaring success. Four Generations of Jacobs University Students, as well as Friends of the University, met in The Mile High City to keep in touch and exchange stories about their experiences and current careers.

The event started with a tour of the Blue Moon Brewery. The included tasting reminded many of our friends of their times in the Other Side, the famous Club on Campus many of us frequented during our time.

The Alumni Dinner allowed us to catch up with our friends and connect with new alumni. It also enabled us to introduce the latest news from the Foundation and from Jacobs University to our Group. 

All in all, it was the perfect weekend to reconnect with old friends and meet new Alumni from Jacobs University. Last but not least, we are happy to say that, thanks to 6 significant contributions, we move towards our $100.000 goal. Join us through the year for our local chapter reunions! Contact us on Facebook for ideas for the next get together!

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JUFA Names Ronny Wells Scholarship

4/10/2017

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The Jacobs University Foundation of America is excited to announce that it is naming its next endowed Scholarship the Ronny Wells Scholarship in dedication of Ronny Wells and his lifetime of achievement and dedication to Jacobs University Bremen. 
 
Dr. Raymond Wells was fundamental to the establishment of Jacobs University Bremen. Indeed, it was the fateful call from Dr. Hans-Otto Peitgen to Dr. Raymond (Ronny) Wells on the morning of October 22, 1997 that connected the City of Bremen to Rice University and set the stage for the establishment of Jacobs University. Ronny played a critical advisory role in the early days of the university and contributed to the establishment of the IRC and Jacobs trans disciplinary approach to education. Ronny also had the foresight to establish an official non-profit in the United States, the Jacobs University Foundation of America, such that Americans could contribute to the University and receive tax benefits. Ronny served in leadership roles in JUFA for over nine years, and continues to serve on the Board of the Jacobs University Foundation of America today. Ronny’s role in the establishment of Jacobs University is so fundamental that he has literally written a book on the history of Jacobs.

The Jacobs University Foundation of America has raised $40,000 of their $100,000 goal for the Ronny Wells Scholarship Fund. The first Ronny Wells Scholarship will be awarded to an incoming student in the fall of 2017. The next scholarship will be awarded upon meeting the endowment goal. If you are interested in contributing the to the Ronny Wells Scholarship you can donate here. 
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 Update on the JUFA Alumni Scholarship Fund

4/10/2016

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In 2015 the JUFA Alumni Scholarship Fund was created. This Fund was established to fulfill a desire by alumni to give back to a scholarship that is not only merit based but also will be available to students of all nationalities. Most importantly, unlike some scholarship initiatives in the past the JUFA Alumni Scholarship Fund is an endowment model. This means that no scholarship will ever be paid out of the principal of the endowment, but instead out of accrued interest on the endowment. Basically this translates into the Fund and the scholarship being sustainable, in perpetuity, regardless of future cash flow.
 
Being part of the creation of this Fund has been incredibly exciting and the Development Committee of JUFA has been overwhelmed with the show of support for the Fund. Thus it is my pleasure to announce that in 2015 -- $22,102 dollars were raised for the JUFA Alumni Scholarship Fund.
 
And we are only getting started! Due to the generosity of an alumnus from the Class of 2007, all donations to the JUFA Alumni Scholarship Fund made until April of 2017 will be matched dollar for dollar up to $10,000 dollars!
 
Given all of this very exciting news, the Development Committee has decided to introduce a new 5-year fundraising goal for the JUFA Alumni Scholarship Fund of $100,000. Based on the generosity of alumni in the past year we are confident we will be able to reach this goal. This also ensures that the JUFA Alumni Scholarship Fund will provide for a 2000 Euro per year scholarship in perpetuity.
 
Again – thank you to all who have donated and participated in building the JUFA Alumni Scholarship Fund so far. We are looking forward to continuing to build up the future with you!
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The History of International University Bremen:From Idea to Reality, 1997-2001

3/27/2016

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Author: John B. Boles
Nur jedem Anfang wohnt ein Zauber inne,
Der uns beschützt und der uns hilft, zu lebe.
 
(A magic dwells in each beginning,
protecting us, telling us how to live.)
 
Hermann Hesse, Das Glasperlenspiel (The Glass Bead Game), 1943 

From one perspective, the German city of Bremen and the Texas city of Houston could not be more different. Yet they share a number of characteristics, the most intriguing of which is an academic partnership that developed almost by happenstance in the last years of the twentieth century. How have the lives of these two cities, more than five thousand miles apart, become intertwined? How does the seed of an idea take root, grow, and ultimately bear fruit?
 
I.
            Bremen traces its founding back to 787, when Charlemagne established it as a diocese, and it was raised to an Archbishopric in 845. Within two centuries, Bremen had become a leading trading port and ecclesiastical administrative center known as “the Rome of the North”. In the thirteenth century, the city won its independence from the bishops, and in 1358 it joined several other states in forming the Hanse trading league. For three centuries, Bremen prospered greatly from commerce with northern and eastern Europe. This heritage of leadership in the Hanseatic League has perpetuated an internationalist outlook in the city. Over the centuries, the city, connected to the North Sea by the Weser river, continued to find success in trade, becoming at different times a leading import center for products as varied as tobacco, coffee, cotton, and oil as well as the embarkation port for millions of German and other Europeans who emigrated to the New World. Shipbuilding also thrived. Throughout its long history, Bremen has prided itself on its independent, progressive spirit, and the symbol of that love of freedom is the statue of Ronald[1] erected in 1404 in the central plaza in front of the City Hall (Rathaus). Bremen entered the German Confederation as an autonomous republic (Germany’s oldest) in 1815 and only temporarily lost its independence during the rule of the National Socialists. That independence was regained in 1947, when Bremen and the smaller port city of Bremerhaven jointly became an independent state within the Federal Republic of Germany with the formal name of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen.

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The original Jacobs University (IUB) white paper

3/6/2016

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December 3, 1997
Authors: Rice delegation and Bremen task force
[We] propose the following bold initiative: to create a new private international university in the city of Bremen in the Federal Republic of Germany that will have a mission to prepare science and engineering students to be leaders in the international workplace. Our conception of this new university will be defined by the following characteristics:
It will be dedicate to the highest possible quality standards with respect to the admission of students, the recruitment of faculty, and the execution of its programs of study and research.
It will be an international universityL both students and faculty will be drawn from the city of Bremen, the Federal Republic of Germany, and from Europe, the U.S., and other countries.
It will be a private university with an independent governing board from civic, academic, and industrial leaders from the city of Bremen, from Germany, from Europe, and from participating universities in the U.S.
The curriculum will emphasize selected disciplines in science and engineering. Courses in the humanities, social sciences, business, and law with be part of an integrated curriculum. The undergraduate program of study will be strongly influenced by the U.S. model, but will also incorporate the best features of the German and European models.
Instruction will primarily be in English ...
The university will be a leading institution in the deployment of information technology to enrich  teaching and learning. This will include distance learning links between the university and its academic partners in the U.S.
It will be a research university ...
It will be a residential learning environment. Students and faculty will live on campus. Sports, cultural and social events will be encouraged to promote interaction and learning outside the classroom. 
[There then followed a series of implementation steps and recommendations for administration and governance.]
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15 years later - The Keynote address at IUB Opening Ceremony by Helmut Schmidt

1/3/2016

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15 years ago in September 2001 Jacobs University (then called IUB) celebrated its Opening. The keynote address was given by Helmut Schmidt - highlighting why we need “institutions of higher learning that are modem, performance-oriented,[...] interdisciplinary, and, at the same time, international”.
​Sadly we lost Helmut Schmidt in 2015 - his vision, courage and his words of advice will be missed, especially facing the global political and cultural challenges of the 21st century.
Helmut Schmidt presenting his Keynote Address at the Opening Ceremony
Helmut Schmidt presenting his Keynote Address at the Opening Ceremony
In the year 2015 we encountered terrorism as well as economic and humanitarian crisis that will take beyond 2016 to solve. We have faced a similar crisis before - 15 years ago - the opening ceremony of Jacobs University was just days after 9/11. And thus Helmut Schmidt’s words are worth repeating, because they are as relevant today as they were 15 years ago, and to remind us of what we set out to create: “Nobody has only rights; everyone has duties as well. And any elite also has to be an elite of responsibility. “
    - Cornelia Scheitz
Helmut Schmidt, Former Chancellor of Germany
Keynote Address IUB Opening Ceremony
​

When Professor Lust, Chairman of the Board of this university, invited me months ago for today's occasion, I had three good reasons to accept his invitation. First, there was my friendship with Reimar Lust. Second, from the time of my youth, I have felt a special sympathy for the partner city of Bremen – m particular for this very town Grohn-Vegesack, where I spent two years in basic training: face-left, face-right, running, pushups. All pretty senseless, but I still cherish the memory of the Strandlust, the Havenhaus, and the brewer's agent Take. Incidentally, does the "Grauer Esel" still exist? ​

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$14,570 raised during JUFA #GivingTuesday campaign to support future Jacobs students 

12/5/2015

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On Tuesday, 1st December 2015, JUFA launched its first #GivingTuesday campaign to raise money for the  JUFA Alumni Scholarship Fund. Thanks to Jacobs alumni from North America and beyond the campaigned raised $14,570. 
The JUFA Alumni Scholarship Fund was founded this year to enable Jacobs alumni to help shape the future of Jacobs University and keep its commitment to academic excellence and a high quality of international education for all, regardless of nationality or financial status. The Jacobs University Foundation of America will continue to grow this endowment over the next five years. The final results of this years campaign will be announced on April 9, 2016 at the reunion for North American based alumni in Palo Alto, California. If you want to know more about North American based alumni initiatives, click here.
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A Tale of Two Universities

12/1/2015

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Jacobs University Bremen

by Howard L. Resnikoff
Chairman, Jacobs University Foundation of America
Today, MIT is a world famous private university with the 6th largest endowment ($11 billion) in the United States. It wasn’t always so.
In 1859 William Barton Rogers submitted a proposal to the legislature of the State of Massachusetts for a new private institution of higher learning that would be housed on publicly owned lands in Boston. Two years later, on April 10, 1861 the governor of Massachusetts signed a charter that granted land for a new private institution of higher education, the “Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston Society of Natural History”. Two days later the American Civil War began.
Because of the war, Rogers, who had been appointed President, had great difficulty raising funds for the new institution. Nevertheless, after the war ended, in May, 1865, MIT’s first classes were held in rented space in Boston, and in 1866 its first building was built. The war was not the only reason it was difficult to raise funds. Most people failed to see a need for, or to understand, the new style of education that MIT represented.
MIT survived for eight years, in a constant state of financial crisis. Then, the Panic of 1873, a severe economic collapse, hit North America and Europe. The subsequent Long Depression lasted 6 years. Enrollments at MIT decreased sharply after 1875 and the financial situation, never easy, became grim. By 1878 – its thirteenth year – MIT had abolished three professorships; reduced faculty salaries; and the Board of Trustees considered closing the institution. Under these circumstances, the second president retired. The trustees were unable to find a successor. They asked Rogers, who was then 75 years of age, to return as interim President.
President Rogers succeeded in finding a young but distinguished successor who assumed the Presidency in 1881 – the 16th year of operation. One reason it was difficult for MIT to build a stable financial foundation in this period was the existence of the Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard – the oldest university in the United States – and potential benefactors were at best indifferent and often hostile to the young institution.
The new President and the Trustees lobbied the Massachusetts Legislature for a $200,000 grant (More than $4 million today). Although MIT was private, they successfully argued that these public monies would aid the industrial development of Massachusetts. The Legislature approved a grant of $300,000 to be paid over two years. In the following years, the State continued to provide grants amounting to more than $1.6 million (Probably more than $40 million today) until the practice was ended in 1921.
Between 1881 and 1897, enrollment quadrupled from 302 to 1,198 students, faculty appointments grew from 38 to 156, and the endowment grew from $137,000 (About $2.8 million today) to $1,798,000 (About $43 million).
One hundred and forty years after the proposal for founding MIT was submitted to the State of 

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