University of Freiburg Expert Receives University Medal

Prof. Dr. Lars P. Feld, professor of economic policy and economics of order and director of the Walter Eucken Institute, has received the University Medal. It is one of the highest honours bestowed by the University of Freiburg, by which it traditionally recognizes the great commitment of Freiburg individuals to the university. Rector Prof. Dr. Kerstin Krieglstein presented the medal during the Dies Universitatis on 23 May 2023. ‘Lars Feld is an excellent scientist who, as a political advisor and member of various committees, has far-reaching influence in society – thus strengthening the University of Freiburg’s reputation in an exceptional way’, she said in explanation of the choice.

Feld studied economics at Saarland University. In 1999 he earned his PhD at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, before going on to complete his habilitation at the same institution. Until 2006 he served as professor of economics at the University of Marburg and then moved on to the same post at Heidelberg University. Feld has been a professor at the University of Freiburg since 2010, researching and teaching on economic policy, finance, new political economy, and economic analysis of law. In the same year he became director of the Walter Eucken Institute. As Rector’s Fellow at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (October 2014–March 2015), the economist worked on the project ‘Eurodiscipline – a Currency Order for Europe’.

Feld has also passed on his knowledge as a visiting scientist at the Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim and at the University of St. Gallen. In 2017 the University of Lucerne, Switzerland, conferred an honorary doctorate on him. In addition to his activities in the academic sphere, Feld serves as an advisor – for example at the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. He is a member of neoliberal think tanks like the Kronberger Kreis and the Mont Pèlerin Society and contributes his extensive expertise to political committees: Since 2003 he has prepared expert reports, analyses, and statements that serve as decision-making aids for policymakers as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board at the Federal Ministry of Finance. Then, in 2007, he was appointed as an expert for the Federalism Commission II, initiated by the upper and lower houses of the German Parliament for the purpose of modernizing federal-state financial relations. Here he was involved in shaping the new German debt brake. In addition, he has been a scientific member of the Minimum Wage Commission since 2020. In 2011, Feld began a ten year stint as a so-called ‘sage of the economy’ in the German Council of Economic Experts, serving as its chair in 2021. Between 2013 and 2021 he also represented the council in the independent advisory board of the Stability Council. Feld, who was elected the most influential German economist by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in 2013, has served since 2022 as personal policy advisor to the Federal Minister of Finance on overall economic development.