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On the 11th of February 1999, it became official - what had been only two years earlier just an idea, a white paper, became real: the founding of a new university, International University Bremen.
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Feb
11, 2002]
Today, three years after the formal founding of IUB, the ideas expressed in this bold proposal: training today's world citizens to be tomorrow's leaders; selecting students for their demonstrated abilities and performance potential, rather than the size of their pocketbooks; and establishing an independent university funded by tuition fees and private philanthropy; have become reality.
In April 2000, IUB's first staff, the "advance team," left their small offices in the center of Bremen and moved onto the large (80 acre) campus - a former military training school - in the suburban area Bremen-Grohn. Their new offices consisted of the renovated half of today's Administration building. In autumn of the same year, Gerhard Haerendel and Max Kaase were appointed the first deans of the School of Engineering and Science and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, respectively.
IUB's first planning group, which consisted of representatives from Rice University (USA), the University of Bremen, and the Bremen Senator (Ministry) for Education and Science, called for the establishment of a modern, flexible, and independent teaching and research institution with an international orientation. The results speak for themselves. More than thirty-five internationally-experienced researchers, representing 14 fields of study, are already teaching, setting up laboratories, and pursuing their research at IUB. More than 130 students, from more than 40 countries, are studying and living on campus.
Alexander Ziegler-Jöns, Vice President for Science Park and Business Development at IUB, and a member of the first planning commitee, recalls, "from my point of view the most important aspect of IUB's planning and founding was that it immediately attracted so many talented and enthusiastic people, who quickly became committed to IUB's success."
Today, three years after IUB's founding, with the steady arrival of new faculty and research staff, continuing building and renovation of existing campus buildings, and the expected participation of more than 300 undergraduate students and the arrival of the first group of graduate students this autumn, IUB continues to grow.
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