Prof. Wolfgang Schürer

Speaker at the St. Gallen Symposium

Prof. Wolfgang Schürer, the Founder of the St. Gallen Symposium, established the Symposium as a student in 1969. Since its 50th anniversary, the Monika & Wolfgang Schürer Award has been presented annually, in recognition to Mrs and Prof. Schürer’s unparalleled commitment to intergenerational dialogue. From 2000-2015, Prof. Schürer served as Chairman of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings Foundation, where he was subsequently appointed Honorary Chairman. In 2015, Prof. Schürer was honoured with the Great Cross of Merit with Star of the Federal Republic of Germany for his outstanding philanthropic engagement. For two decades, Prof. Schürer was a member and special envoy of the Hague Academy of International Law and since 2018, he has chaired the Foundation for Peace Dialogue of World Religions and Civil Society, which he co-founded with his wife. Furthermore, Prof. Schürer was from 1992-2010 a Member of the Board of Visitors of the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, where he also served as a professor for Practice of International Business Diplomacy. Following his appointment as a lecturer in 1985 at the University of St.Gallen, he was awarded with an honorary doctorate in 1999 and appointed as a professor for Public Affairs in 2005. From 2018-2019, Prof. Schürer oversaw the Public Campaign for the newly constructed university building SQUARE.