With outstanding personal commitment and leadership, Prof Dr Wolfgang Baier has championed the forward-looking direction of the university and has been involved in various cross-university and science policy committees and functions. The City of Regensburg has now honoured him with the Albertus Magnus Medal.
Prof Dr Wolfgang Baier studied physics at the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg and was appointed professor at OTH Regensburg in 1994. From 2001 to 2006, he headed the then Faculty of General Sciences and Microsystems Engineering as Dean. He then served as Vice President for Research and Continuing Education from 2006 to 2012. He then held the position of President of OTH Regensburg for ten years until 2022.
During his tenure as President, Prof. Dr Baier was able to set significant milestones for the further development of the university, including the transformation into a technical university in the OTH alliance with OTH-Amberg-Weiden and the start of the structural consolidation of the university on the Seybothstraße campus.
Numerous achievements for OTH Regensburg
It gave him great pleasure to play a responsible role in the further development of OTH Regensburg and to be able to shape it himself with the necessary foresight. Among other things, he was instrumental in the digital progress of OTH Regensburg, especially in the field of artificial intelligence. Under his leadership, continuous investment was made in the expansion of the university and both computer science and AI research were strongly promoted. It was always important to him to sharpen the university's profile in a sustainable and progressive way.
The strengthening of applied research and the exemplary transfer of knowledge for companies in the region, the expansion of further education activities and the provision of education at the highest level have been among his declared maxims since taking office. In order to achieve his ambitious goals, he always showed full commitment and knew how to inspire and motivate people for his ideas and visions.
As a university designer, Prof. Dr Baier did outstanding work and excelled in the promotion of higher education throughout the Free State of Bavaria. He never placed himself at the centre of attention, but always regarded the successful development of the past years as a great joint achievement of the entire university.
He played a key role in shaping OTH Regensburg in various functions for more than a quarter of a century. His term of service came to an end in 2022 when he took his well-deserved retirement.
With his work as a scientist and his extremely successful activity as university president, Prof Dr Baier has left a deep mark both on Regensburg as a science location and on the entire economic region of Eastern Bavaria. He is being honoured with the Albertus Magnus Medal for his outstanding achievements.
The Albertus Magnus Medal
The Albertus Magnus Medal, created by a city council resolution in 1949, can be awarded to personalities who have rendered outstanding services as scientists, artists or promoters of the city's cultural endeavours.
The Albertus Magnus Medal is an unendowed award named after Albertus Magnus, the Bishop of Regensburg. However, Albertus Magnus was not only Bishop of Regensburg, but also a universal scholar, philosopher, jurist, theologian, natural scientist and Dominican. Pope Pius XII named him patron saint of natural scientists in 1941.
The Albertus Magnus Medal is awarded on the City Freedom Day by the City Council on the recommendation of the Lord Mayor. The total number of living holders of this medal should not exceed 25.
(Source: Website of the City of Regensburg)
