Honorary Fellow Dr Ulrich Hoppe
Honourable Chancellor, I have great pleasure in presenting Ulrich Hoppe for the award of Honorary Fellowship from Liverpool John Moores University.
Ulrich Hoppe is Director General of the German-British Chamber of Industry and Commerce and is honoured today for his outstanding contribution to European business cooperation.
On leaving school he started his professional career as a commercial apprentice with Kühne und Nagel in Bremen and after finishing university he joined Lufthansa in Frankfurt followed by a management training programme at Dresdner Bank in Frankfurt.
He holds a BA degree in Business Studies from Leeds Polytechnic, a Diplom-Betriebswirt from Hochschule Bremen, a MA degree in International Business from the University of Reading and a Doctorate in Governance from Queen’s University in Belfast. In addition, he attended various Senior Executive Programmes at INSEAD, Fontainebleau and Columbia University, New York.
Ulrich’s career has been dedicated to strengthening business relationships for mutual benefit and co-operation. Before joining the German-British Chamber in May 1998 he held the position of Vice President and Treasurer of the German American Chamber of Commerce in New York. He joined the Chamber network in 1993 as a Finance Manager at the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce in Bonn.
The ‘German-British Chamber of Industry and Commerce’ was founded in 1971 and is a business to business organisation of some 750 British and German member firms. It is financially supported by the German Ministry of Economics and its mission is to promote trade and investment between the UK and Germany. With its commercial services it helps around 10,000 companies each year to start or expand their export activities through providing business contacts, information and advice.
The higher education and training arm of the Chamber, the European College of Business and Management, was established at the instigation of the German business community in the UK and has operated in partnership with the University since 2007 providing opportunities for students to study the University’s MBA programme and our masters in international business and management.
The College feels very much part of the University family and we participate in the College’s own graduation ceremonies each year celebrating the achievements of the students who have studied whilst working and taken their learning to a higher level.
Many of the students who have graduated from the joint programme are in senior and executive management positions in companies based in Germany and throughout Europe.
Education has the opportunity to transcend national boundaries and we are very proud of our links to the College and to the German-British Chamber. Ulrich is a strong and vocal supporter of the partnership and as one of the most prominent European business leaders in the UK he has used his position to press for greater collaboration in the forthcoming European discussions.
His is an important voice in the current climate and it is his advocacy we will value over the course of the next few years as we seek to recalibrate the place of UK business and industry on the world stage.
And so, for his outstanding contribution to the continuation of European business cooperation, it is with great pleasure that I present Ulrich Hoppe for admission to our highest honour, as an Honorary Fellow of Liverpool John Moores University.
