Our biography in short
I was born in the western part of the then divided city of Berlin. Most of my education was in the American sector of West Berlin. I received the academic degree 'Diplom-Chemiker' in 1990 from the Free University Berlin (Freie Universität), which was located in the American sector of West-Berlin (the Humboldt-University was the contrary in the Russian sector of East-Berlin). I then moved to the University of Fribourg in Switzerland where I attained my Masters degree. On my return from Switzerland, I worked for several years at the Hahn-Meitner-Institute in Berlin specializing in the metal-organic applications for semiconductor thin-film technology. Then I joined an environmental research institute in Neuruppin / Brandenburg and later the Fachinformations-zentrum Chemie (FIZ) as a referee for the Chemical Abstract Service (CAS).
My wife Barbara was born in Hannover. Her mother is German, but her father is a veterinarian from Iceland. She grew up in a very small village, 150 km east of the capital of Iceland, Reykjavik. When she was 20, she decided to move to (West-) Berlin, where she studied Germanistics and Pedagogics. On completion, she started a career as a therapeutic educator and worked for almost ten years in a special institution for handicapped children. We have been blessed with two wonderful children, our daughter Annika in 2000 and in 2002 a handsome son Tobias. Since they have Icelandic descendency as well, we saw it fit that we also bestow then Icelandic names Valgerdur and Kjartan respectively.
Our romance with IUB began in the summer of 2002, when IUB was seeking a scientific associate to set-up the Organic Chemistry teaching laboratory, an integral learning tool for students. This lab was to be set up in the converted former tank-garages which is now the e-on lab (lab 1). I took up this interesting challenge in August 2002 and in September of that year, the first General Chemistry Lab course took place in the newly constructed labs. Today I am supervisor of the Organic Chemistry teaching lab that runs two courses, 'Natural Science Lab in General Chemistry II' and 'Natural Science Lab in Integrated Organic Chemistry'. I am also a collaborator in the research group of Prof. Werner Nau and responsible for assisting and supervising his guided research students in his research lab.
In the beginning of 2003, the then College II (now Mercator College) was looking for a Second Residential Associate and I thought this might be a very exciting opportunity for us to take part in the growth of IUB. Until that time, Barbara was still undecided whether to move down to Bremen permanently because we were both actively involved in our community in Berlin. I was a gymnastics and acrobatics coach and had been an active member for years before for Berliner Turnerschaft, in my area. Barbara was in a similar position as she was in the Executive board of a Rowing club Märkischer Ruderverein in Berlin. It was not easy to convince her to leave all that behind and start a new life in Bremen but when I finally did, we applied for the position and in the spring of 2003 we were voted to be RAs of Mercator College. Since we took up the RA task, we have never regretted this decision and have enjoyed every moment as RA’s in Mercator.
Our wishes as RAs:
In our view, we believe that IUB is a great place, a very optimistic, positive symbol in our troubled world of conflicts and violence, that there is still a will out there to promote International understanding. It is inspiring that a run down former military barracks could be transformed into one of the fastest growing International University in Europe.
We wish that everybody involved with IUB will always keep that in mind and work towards creating an atmosphere of tolerance, mutual respect and understanding. We believe that every student should try to identify him/herself with the college i.e. contribute towards the betterment of living conditions in our college as well as being considerate of the interests of the college community. That also means, of course, respecting the rules of the college, treating college equipment properly and taking over responsibility for the safety of our college.
We understand that many students are very young and it might be the first time that they are away from home, but nevertheless we urge you to take over responsibility for our college all the time. Feel free to make a mess in your own room, but be considerate of the common room as this is a shared space. Keep the kitchens in a condition you would like to find them and bring the dishes you have used back to Aramark on your own! Ensure that you close all doors and windows in the night and make sure all your possessions are secure.
If you we adhere to those simple rules, we all will have a great time at IUB and in our college. We wish you a peaceful and successful time.
Your RA family
Mercator News