Technical University of Munich: Association of Alumni and Friends marks 100th anniversary
The “Bund der Freunde der TUM” was founded 100 years ago. To mark the anniversary, a gala celebration took place in the Audimax at the Garching Campus. With the aid of alumni, companies and generous donors, the Bund der Freunde has been supporting university-wide initiatives and advanced research projects since 1922 and enriching the TUM community with special lectures, university conferences and award ceremonies.
The association marked the anniversary with a name change, as announced by Dr. Andreas Wendt, the Chairman of the Board of the association and a former member of the Board of Management of BMW AG. It will now be officially known as “Freunde der TUM – TUM Association of Alumni and Friends”. Dr. Wendt said: “In contrast to the association’s original guiding principle, namely to promote a young technical university and its concept per se, our mission today is to support a world-renowned institution. The present focus is to continue modernizing the association and attract young people with the goal of ensuring a well-balanced membership structure representing all age groups.”
TUM President Prof. Thomas F. Hofmann thanked the Alumni and Friends for their outstanding commitment on behalf of the university community: “We cannot overstate the value of having the Friends at our side. 100 years of the Bund der Freunde – that means 100 years of personal commitment by our more than 2000 members. In our efforts to support forward-looking academic projects, we have been and remain united – in short, as friends!”
In the future, the association will focus even more on students and in particular on the support of student initiatives. It also plans to recruit more active members from among the student body – and especially international students. President Hofmann added: “To maintain family ties with our students, even after their time at TUM, we want to welcome them into the community in a spirit of trust while they are still engaged in their studies here.”