Speech given by Régis Ritz.pdfVIP

Speech given by Régis Ritz Distinguished guests, Dear Wolfgang, First of all I am very pleased to bring you EUA’s best wishes and congratulations. I was recently exchanging emails with Lesley Wilson and Andrée Sursock and they were so happy to learn that your university and your TNP close friends and colleagues would celebrate in the most appropriate way your 40 years of solid and efficient work at Freie Universität Berlin. The European University Association has become now a major partner for ELC/CEL; with a membership of over 600 universities across Europe, EUA represents the best forum for disseminating the Thematic Networks results and recommendations and for developing new programmes. CEL/ECL has opened an office in the Brussels EUA building; it is placed under your leadership and it clearly represents your excellent European strategy. I wish now to add my personal compliments and congratulations. As a member of Wolfgang’s gang I think I am entitled to reveal some of your prominent qualities and it is a pleasure to do so in front of all the friends present here who have been working, hard and loyally by your side, on the many programmes and thematic networks you have personally and successfully launched. How does one become a member of Wolfgang‘s gang? My answer is simple: three conditions are required. The first condition is that you must hear Wolfgang declare solemnly to you: “My dear friend, you are a man/woman after my heart !” This sentence is generally pronounced loudly in public; you are then knighted, this is the dignus entrare; you are a member of the gang. It may sound somewhat sentimental; I rather think it is a perfect example of the German romantic soul and as such one important aspect of Wolfgang’s personality. The second condition is that now you are on Wolfgang’s official e-mailing list; you will then receive loads of documents, r