Wenchao Li becomes Leibniz Endowed Professor
 

Leading Leibniz expert accepts appointment in Hannover

The name of the newly-created Leibniz Endowed Professor has been announced: Prof. Dr. Wenchao Li has accepted the position in Hannover. The Chinese-born cosmopolitan took up the professorship from 1st July 2010, the 364th birthday of the universal genius Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. The position is for five years.

The aim of the endowed professorship is to express the particular attachment felt by city and university to the life and work of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz through academic work and high-profile public events. The professorship will enhance the reputation and attractiveness of the university and strengthen its ties to other academic institutions, ensuring close cooperation with them. All teaching activities of the Endowed Professor will be additional to those already on offer at the university. They will concern themselves with interdisciplinary aspects and be open to all students.

“In Mr Li, we have acquired an outstanding candidate for the Leibniz Endowed Professorship. He is not only an authority on Leibniz and a philosopher, but he also has an excellent international reputation,” says Prof. Erich Barke, President of Leibniz Universität Hannover. Lord Mayor Stefan Weil comments on the appointment: “The city welcomes Prof. Dr. Wenchao Li to Hannover as a leading Leibniz expert. We are especially pleased that some of the activities will be specifically aimed at the general public in the City and Region of Hannover, for example in the form of popular-science lectures in the City Hall or the organisation of a lecture series.” Half of the funding for the Leibniz Endowed Professorship is being provided by the state capital Hannover and Leibniz Universität Hannover, and half by AWD founder Carsten Maschmeyer from his own private assets. “Studying the discoveries of others is very worthwhile, as source of inspiration for us. My commitment to the Leibniz Endowed Professorship helps to set an academically valuable gem in the crown of the research centre Hannover,” says Carsten Maschmeyer.

Professor Li (born 1957) is an eminent connoisseur of Leibniz. One of his main research areas is the writings and philosophy of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Li studied German, philosophy, linguistics and politics in Xi’an, Beijing, Heidelberg and Berlin. He took his doctorate and habilitation at FU Berlin. After ten years of teaching and research in Stuttgart, Erlangen, Wolfenbüttel, Berlin (TU, and recently FU) and at several Chinese universities, since 2007 Li has been in charge of the Potsdam Leibniz Edition research unit of the Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Humanities and Sciences (BBAW). In this capacity he is responsible for the historical-critical edition of the political writings of this universal genius.

He maintains close ties to his home country China. Among other distinctions, he holds an honorary professorship from the Technical University of Dalian and an honorary doctorate from the Leibniz Research Institute at the University of Wuhan. He acts as a visiting professor in Wuhan, as well as at further Chinese universities. He is a member of the Academic Advisory Board of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Society based in Hannover, and of the Leibniz Commission of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Beijing).

Background: Leibniz and Hannover
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz lived from 1646 to 1716. The last 40 years of his life were spent in Hannover. During this time he worked in the service of the Duke and later Elector of Hannover. Leibniz is regarded as the last universal genius, i.e. as a scholar who worked in all (or almost all) academic fields. Leibniz was a mathematician, scientist, philosopher, theologian, historian, librarian, diplomat and engineer.

Meldung vom 26.08.2010