The jury for the Löhn Award has decided to acknowledge the commitment of Senator E. h. Dr.-Ing. Wilhelm Schmitt as a member of the Steinbeis Foundation Board of Trustees over many years.
Wilhelm Schmitt is a man who, in addition to his professional commitment and success, has also honorably devoted himself as personally liable partner at Freudenberg & Co., Weinheim, to many tasks and actively shaped them. Wilhelm Schmitt has also applied his extensive knowledge of international business and his talent for developing visions of the future, demonstrating com- mitment in numerous honorary offices and committees.
For fifteen years, from 1991 to the year of his retirement, 2006, he was a regular member of the Steinbeis Foundation Board of Trustees and, in addition, assumed the role of member of the Committee in 1998. With his excellent entrepreneurial skills, he made valuable contributions, both in the area of markets and technology, and in the area of fi nances, constantly supporting the work of the Steinbeis Foundation in a committed, valued manner.
In addition to his work for Steinbeis, Wilhelm Schmitt as Chairman of the Board of Trustees (1991–2003) and chairman of the university council (2000–2006), was particularly involved in the promotion of the university in Mannheim, which appointed him “Honorary senator” in 1997. In his own, very special way, he led the university forward. The Steinbeis Foundation also benefited from his extensive knowledge of national university policy, his background having included a period as head of the German conference of university chairmen.