Dreams of being famous
Many great minds have done research and taught at the University of Stuttgart, leaving indelible marks on their disciplines and their society. On this page, we introduce a select few of these many outstanding personalities.
Famous mechanical engineers
Mechanical engineering has a long tradition at the University of Stuttgart. Gottlieb Daimler (automobiles), Robert Bosch (household utensils), Alfred Kärcher (cleaning machines): These famous inventors studied at the University of Stuttgart before their inventions made them world-famous. Artur Fischer, the inventor of the plastic wall plug (screw anchor), just one of his more than 1,000 patented inventions, supported young developers at the University of Stuttgart as honorary senator and mentor.
Prominent architects and civil engineers
At least architects and civil engineers know about Paul Bonatz, Fritz Leonhardt, Frei Otto or Jörg Schlaich. The citizens of Stuttgart received their main train station (Bonatz) and TV tower (Leonhard) from them. Also well-known without question is the roof of Munich’s Olympic Stadium (Otto and Schlaich).
Luminaries in the natural sciences
Nobel Prize winner Erwin Schrödinger won fame outside physics, too, thanks to his cat metaphor for quantum states.
In 2007, Stuttgart’s Gerhard Ertl received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Anyone who has taken chemistry will remember hearing of Hermann Fehling and the analytical method for sugar estimation that he developed during the 19th century.
The first woman to matriculate at the University of Stuttgart, Nora Kräutle, was also the first female to study for a PhD in chemistry at a German technical university.
Celebrated in the humanities
In philosophy Max Bense, who was also a mathematician, is a household name. His work would have been inconceivable without that of his wife, the semioticist Elisabeth Walther-Bense. Also a member of the Stuttgart School was the literary theorist Reinhard Döhl from whom we have the visual poem “Apfel.”
Käte Hamburger is also known outside Germany in literary studies for her work on the “logic of literature.”
Prominent in society
The Federal Republic of Germany’s first president, Theodor Heuss, was Professor of History at the University of Stuttgart in 1946 and 1947. The second German astronaut to go into space, Ulf Merbold, studied physics here. The publicist Golo Mann had a professorship in political science at the University of Stuttgart and the writer Robert Musil was a research assistant in mechanical engineering.
List of the University of Stuttgart's honorary members
All people that have been awarded the honorary membership of the University of Stuttgart are listed below. The lists include only honorary members that are alive.
- Mubarak, Suzanne, former First Lady of the Arab Republic of Egypt
- Arnold, Wolfgang, Dipl.-Ing., CTO and Spokesman of the Board, Stuttgarter
Straßenbahnen AG - Becker, Karl Eugen, Dipl.-Ing., Chairman of the Board, MOT Bavaria
- Breuninger, Helga, Dr., Breuninger Foundation
- Eckenberg, Peter A., Director and CEO, Fa. Klöckner Stahlhandel
- Elsässer, Rainer F., Prof.-Dipl.-Ing. (FH)
- Ensinger, Wilfried, Dipl.-Ing. (FH)
- Fischer, Klaus, Dipl.-Ing., Executive partner, Fischer Holding & Co. KG
- Geidel, Horst, Dipl.-Kfm., Chairman of the Board, Behr GmbH & Co.
- Geisel, Rolf, sole CEO, Friedrich Boysen GmbH und Co. KG
- Grube, Rüdiger, Dr., Chairmanship of the Board, Deutsche Bahn
- Heller, Berndt, Dipl.-Ing., Chairman of the Board, Gebrüder Heller Machinenfabrik GmbH
- Hinderer, Eberhard, Vector Informatik GmbH
- Hinrichs, Konrad, Prof. Dipl.-Ing.
- Hundt, Dieter, Dr. sc. techn., Executive partner, Allgaier Werke GmbH
- Laidig, Klaus-Dieter, Dipl.-Betriebswirt (FH), Member of the Board, Baden-Württemberg:Connected e.V. (bwcon)
- Litschel, Martin, Vector Informatik GmbH
- Lohr, Friedrich W., Dr.-Ing. E.h., Member of the Board, Adam Opel AG i.R.
- Marchart, Horst, Dipl.-Ing., (retd.) Member of the Board Development, Dr.-Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG
- Moreau, Jean M., Directeur du Cité Club Universitaire
- Schelling, Helmut, Dr., Vector Informatik GmbH
- Schnell, Peter, Dipl.-Ing., Member of the Board retd., Energieversorgung Schwaben AG
- Würth, Reinhold, Prof. Dr. h.c., Chairman of the Advisory Board, Würth-Gruppe Künzelsau
- Zügel, Walther, Dr. Dr. oec. h.c., Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Landesgirokasse
- Altintas, Yusuf, Prof. Dr.
- Baker, William F., Dr.-Ing. E.h., Skidmore Owings & Merill SOM, Chicago USA, non-tenured Professor at Northwestern University
- Bergmeister, Konrad, Prof. Dr. phil. Dr. techn., University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
- Bruggeling, Antonius S. G. jr., Professor for Solid Building, Technical University of Delft
- Cleven, Hans-Dieter, Dr. rer. pol. E.h.
- Dilger, Walter H., Prof. Dr.-Ing., em. Prof. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Calgary, Canada
- Emmelmann, Hans-Joachim, Dr.-Ing., CEO Development and Corporate Sales, Wilhelm Karmann GmbH
- Engheta, Nader, Prof., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
- Fischer, Klaus, Prof. Dipl. Ing., Fischerwerke GmbH & Co. KG
- Garcia Sanz, Francisco Javier, Member of the Affiliated Group Volkswagen AG
- Gatteschi, Dante, Prof. , Università di Firenze
- Götz, Hans, Dipl.-Ing., Senior Director retd., Mercedes Benz AG
- Goll, Siegfried, Dipl.-Ing. (FH), ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Vice Chairman of the Board
- Grün, Eberhard Theodor, Prof. Dr. rer. nat., Dr.-Ing. E.h., former Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg
- Hahn, Erwin L., Prof. Dr. Dr. rer. nat. E.h., University of California, Berkeley, USA
- Hale, Jack K., Prof., School of Mathematics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
- Hassanizadeh, S., Majid, Ph. D., Utrecht University, Department of Earth Sciences
- Haydeé, Marcía, Dr. phil. E.h.
- Heipke, Christian, Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil., Leibniz University Hannover
- Hoffmann-Martinot, Vincent, Prof. Dr. Domaine universitaire, Insitut d'Etuides Paitiques de Bordeaux
- Jérome, Denis, Prof.
- Kaplan, Robert S., Prof. Ph. D.
- Klingel, Hans, Dipl.-Ing. (FH), Dr.-Ing. E.h.
- Kniep, Rüdiger, Prof. Dr. rer. nat., Max Planck Institute of Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden
- Koch, Karl-Rudolf, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr.-Ing. E.h., Director of the Institute of Theoretical Geodesy, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
- Komarek, Kurt Ludwig, Prof. Dr.-phil., Dr. rer. nat. E.h.
- Krause, E., Ph. D., Univ.-Prof. em. Prof. h.c.
- Leser, Hartmut, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil., Tenured Professor for Physical Geography and Landscape Ecology, Department Geography, University of Basel, Institute of Geography
- Macht, Michael, Dipl.-Ing., Dr.-Ing. E.h., Member of the Board, Volkswagen AG
- Meyer, Allan, NASA
- Nakamura, Hideo, Prof. Dr.-Eng., President of the Institute of Transport Policy Studies, Tokyo, Japan
- Nußbaumer, Manfred, Prof. Dipl.-Ing., M. Sc., Chairmanship of the Board, Ed. Züblin AG Stuttgart,
- Park, Chul, Prof. Dr. Dr.-Ing., E.h.
- Piano, Renzo, Dr.-Ing., E.h., Architect
- Ramachandran, Arcot, Prof. Dr.-Ing., E.h. Ph. D., Executive Director of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements, Nairobi, Kenia, Africa
- Raulff, Ulrich, Dr., Dr. phil., h.c., Director of the German Literature Archive, Marbach
- Rzążewski, Kazimierz, Prof. Dr., Kardinal-Stefan-Wyszyński University, Warszawa
- Sahol, Hamid Bin Abu Bakar., Prof. Dr., Dr.-Ing. E.h., Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
- Sansò, Fernando, Prof. Dr. h.c.
- Schey, John A., Prof. Dr., Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Kanada
- Schmalzried, Hermann, Prof. Dr., Dr. rer. nat. E. h., Professor Emeritus University of Hanover
- Schneider, Friedrich, Prof. Dr., Dr. rer. pol. E. h. Johannes-Kepler-University of Linz, Institute of Economics, Department of Economic Policy
- Seib, Paul, Dr. E.h.
- Seiler, Paul
- Sejima, Kazuyo, Dr.-Ing. E. h., Architect, Tokyo
- Subba Rao, Tippur Narayanarao, B.E., C.ENG, Managing Director of Gammon India Limited, Bombay
- Tange, Kenzo, Prof. Dr.-Ing. E.h. University of Tokyo
- Thalgott, Christiane, Prof. Dipl.-Ing., Head of the municipial Planning and Building Control Office retd., Munich
- Thul, Heribert, Dipl.-Ing., Dr.-Ing. E.h., Head of the federal Department of Transportation
- Traßl, Werner, Dipl.-Ing., Member of the Board, Kraftwerk Union AG
- Trumpfheller, Rudolf, Dipl.-Phys.
- Vischer, Daniel L., em. Prof. Dr.-Ing., Research Institiute of Hydraulic Engineering, Hydrology and Glaciology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich
- Walther, René, em. Prof. Dr.-Ing., Dr.-Ing. E.h. em., École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL Lausanne, Schweiz); Walther, Mory, Maier, Bauingenieure AG
- Weber, Jürgen, Dr.-Ing. E.h., Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Deutsche Lufthansa AG
- Weigelt, Horst, Dr.-Ing. E.h.
- Winsen van, Friedrich, Dipl.-Ing.
- Wittfoht, Hans, Dr.-Ing.
- Zollinger, Heinrich, Prof. Dr.-Ing.-Chem., Dr.-Ing. E.h., Textile- and Dye Chemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich
- Bögle, Dieter, Hon.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing., Institute of Machine Components
- Brendle, Franz, Dr. phil., Faculty of Humanities
- Hoffmann, Claus Dieter. Dr., Company Member H + H Senior Advisor GmbH
- Huning, Alois, Prof. Dr.
- Khakzar, Haybatolah, Prof. Dr.
- Koch, Jan, Prof. Dr.-Ing., University of Technology, Wroclaw
- Mehl, Klaus, notary a.D.
- Popa, Marcel Sabin, Prof. Dr.-Ing., Technical University of Cluj-Napoca
- Sedelmeier, Dorit, Dr., Historical Institute
- Sorg, Helmut, Prof. Dr.-Ing., Institute A of Mechanics
- Stoertzenbach, Veronika, Musical Director of the University
- Svjatnyj, Vladimir A., Prof. Dr.-Ing., National Technical University of Donezk