On 2 July 2025, our summer party took place on campus in glorious sunshine. Numerous members of the university, student representatives and faculty, guests from the business world, former and current students accepted our invitation to celebrate 50 years of the Faculty of Business Administration and made the evening a highlight.
After the opening by University President Prof. Dr. Michaela Wirtz, Prof. Dr. Alexander Kumpf, Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, welcomed the guests: ‘We are proud to look back on over 50 successful years at our faculty. With our focus on entrepreneurship, internationalization, digitalization, and sustainability, our emphasis has always been and continues to be on people as individuals and as a collective." In keeping with this motto, exciting panel discussions with representatives from business, science and alumni inspired the audience.
A special item on the programme was the alumni talk by Prof. Dr. Valentina Speidel with alumni from all five past decades. The former students provided insights into their very different career paths and professional experiences. They also shared advice with the students.
Two students, Carolin Garbe and Pascal Raubuch, provided a glimpse into the future of higher education in 2040 in a humorous presentation on the role of lecturers, the examination process, everyday life for students in the future, and the possible applications of AI.
Prof. Dr. Bernd Mühlfiedel kicked off the panel discussion on the future of entrepreneurship and innovation with his presentation on ‘Entrepreneurship & Innovation’ with guests from business and politics: Hans-Jürgen Multhammer, founder and CEO of Asis GmbH, Jürgen Kosch, co-founder and managing partner of MIG Fonds, and Dr. Thomas Haslinger, entrepreneur and deputy mayor of the city of Landshut.
Numerous posters on the development of the degree programmes, student numbers, lecturers and important events at the faculty provided the historical context. Founded as a branch of Weihenstephan University of Applied Sciences, teaching at the Faculty of Business Administration began in 1971: in addition to the insights gained from the alumni talk, former students and lecturers shared memories and anecdotes from their time at the university in interviews conducted in advance. Prof. Kumpf was enthusiastic about the results of the previous archive research: ‘It was exciting to gain a deeper insight into the history of our faculty and to be able to trace our development since the 1970s in detail.’
In addition to looking back on the past five decades, the faculty also celebrated a current milestone: visitors were given their first glimpse of the newly established Nexus Lab during interactive laboratory tours. Starting in the winter semester, students from the two bachelor's programmes in Business Psychology & Sustainability Management and Media & Communication Management will complete laboratory internships here under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Robin Hau, Prof. Dr. Josef Fischer, Dr. Robert Luzsa and Prof. Dr. Martina Mitterhofer.
Afterwards, everyone celebrated at a get-together with refreshments, freshly grilled food, salads and stimulating conversations until late into the night. DJ Prof. Dr. Robin Hau provided the musical entertainment.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to the moderators Prof. Dr. Sandra Gronover and Prof. Dr. Philipp Michaeli, all guests, supporters and helpers for this wonderful evening!
