Dr. Werner Diez at the award ceremony for the prize he endowed.
For more than fifty years, Dr. Werner Diez (†) was firmly connected to his department or the former Faculty of Economics. For many years, he regularly donated to the department and thus made many an acquisition possible. Werner Diez passed away on 29.05.2011. Due to his tireless work for the economics faculty in Tübingen, his personality and his name will always be remembered by the faculty!
For his special services to the University of Tübingen, Werner Diez received the Silver University Medal in 2003. Diez was a graduate of the former Faculty of Economics and celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his doctorate in 2003. Born in 1929, the economist became a certified public accountant and tax consultant after completing his studies. Since the inception of the List-Fest, he donated a substantial amount each year for the benefit of the Friedrich List Foundation. Diez was one of those people who had not forgotten their time at the former Faculty of Economics. Thus, he named his university education as the basis for success in his profession. From his teacher, Professor Johns (Chair of Business Administration), he had learned the "action-forming interest for business administration". At the same time, however, he gave his practical experience back to science. Hardly anyone has supported medium-sized companies on the basis of scientific know-how, practical experience and personal persuasiveness like Werner Diez. In 1989, he was awarded the Ferdinand von Steinbeis Medal for this work. Without personalities like Werner Diez, many an investment at the former Faculty of Economics would not have been possible in the past. For this, he deserves special thanks. More details about Werner Diez's life can be found here.
The close ties to the Friedrich List Foundation, which Werner Diez expressed for so many years in the form of regular donations, culminated in the establishment of his own foundation in 2003. The assets of the Werner Diez Foundation are held in trust by the Friedrich List Foundation, as the Werner Diez Foundation is a foundation without legal capacity.
The foundation's funds are used primarily to purchase specialist literature in the fields of business administration, economic auditing, and tax and company law.
The Werner Diez Prize is awarded to the best graduates in the department's integrated binational degree programs.
At the end of 2009, the Werner Diez Room, an additional lecture hall for students, was ceremoniously inaugurated. This was preceded by a generous donation by Werner Diez, which contributed to the transformation of the former archive into a lecture hall with modern presentation technology.
Werner Diez was a successful alumnus whose wish was to help the Department of Economics in the long term - and who pursued this goal tirelessly. With his activities for our department, he himself wanted above all to be a role model or incentive for others to do the same.
Dr. Werner Diez supported the alumni work of the department until the end. Shortly before his death, he joined the newly founded alumni and support association WiWi-Netzwerk Tübingen e.V.. The WiWi-Netzwerk honored Werner Diez's outstanding personality by posthumously appointing him as its first honorary member.
Donations in favor of the Werner Diez Foundation can be directed to: Friedrich-List-Stiftung, Verwendungszweck: "Stiftung Werner Diez", Kreissparkasse Tübingen, Kto. 231 020 (BLZ 64150020).
