Ralph Ossa Nominated as Vice President
Four of the five representatives of the academic community on the Executive Board of the University are running for another term of office from 1 August 2026 to 31 July 2030. They were recommended by the Senate on Monday for re-election by the Board of the University. They are:
- Prof. Dr. Michael Schaepman, President
- Prof. Dr. Gabriele Siegert, Deputy President and Vice President Education and Student Affairs
- Prof. Dr. Beatrice Beck Schimmer, Vice President Medicine
- Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Stark, Vice President Research
The Senate also nominated Ralph Ossa to succeed Christian Schwarzenegger as Vice President Faculty Affairs and Scientific Information. Schwarzenegger will step down at the end of the current term of office. Silvia Steiner, the head of the canton of Zurich’s Department of Education and president of the Board of the University, was on site to provide information about the nomination process. A motion calling on the Board of the University to consider further candidates was rejected.
Ralph Ossa has been a professor at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics of UZH since 2017 and was appointed UBS Foundation Professor of Economics this summer. From 2023 to 2025, he served as Chief Economist of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
In a next step, the nominations have to be confirmed by the University Council.
François Chapuis, Vice President Real Estate and Facility Management, and Daniel Hug, Vice President Finances, are also voting members of the Executive Board of the University. These positions do not require nomination by the Senate.