The winners of the Professer Müller-Thurgau Prize 2018 have been announced: this year the panel, consisting of the executive committee of the “VEG” – Geisenheim Alumni Association e.V. and the President’s Council of Hochschule Geisenheim University, are awarding the prize to Dr. Franz Josef Jung, Member of the German Bundestag and a former Federal Minister, and Ingmar Jung, Member of the German Bundestag and former State Secretary at the Hessen State Ministry of Higher Education, Research and the Arts. “ This year it’s also a special pleasure for me personally to be able to announce two distinguished personalities from the Rheingau as award winners” says panel chairman and VEG president Dipl.-Ing. Robert Lönarz.
The Professor Müller-Thurgau Prize is awarded to individuals who have, over many years, made outstanding contributions to the preservation and promotion of research and teaching and the interests of the students at Hochschule Geisenheim University. “Both of this year’s award winners have been tireless campaigners and stabilising factors for Geisenheim as the new university’s location, particularly during its founding period” adds Lönarz admiringly. “We are therefore particularly delighted to have found the perfect laudator to pay tribute to Dr. Franz Josef Jung and Ingmar Jung: the Federal Minister for Agriculture Julia Klöckner.”
Klöckner will deliver her presentation speech on Saturday November 10 2018 during a ceremony commencing at 1 pm in the Spätlesereiter Room at Schloss Johannisberg. Following the ceremony the award winners will join invited guests for a tour of the Rheingau Open in the Fürst von Metternich Hall. Their guide will be Wilhelm Weil, president of the VDP.Rheingau.
The Professor Müller-Thurgau Prize takes its name from Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Hermann Müller from the Swiss canton of Thurgau, who was as remarkable as he was revered and whose eponymous grape variety gained him world-wide renown. Professor Müller spent many successful years at Geisenheim as a botanist, biologist, phytopathologist, breeder and teacher. The prize was launched by the “VEG” – Geisenheim Alumni Association e.V., which was founded in 1894 and which, with 3000 members, is one of the largest and oldest alumni organisations in Germany.
