Michael Kaschke is the new Executive Chair of the Society of Friends and Patrons of Friedrich Schiller University Jena. The former CEO of the ZEISS Group and alumnus of the University of Jena was elected unanimously today, 23 January 2026, by the members' meeting.

?With Professor Michael Kaschke, Friedrich Schiller University Jena gains a personality of outstanding scientific and economic reputation. He represents the successful interaction of excellent science and corporate responsibility. As an alumnus of our University and an honorary citizen of the city of Jena, he embodies the close ties between the University, the city and the region,? says Prof. Dr Andreas Marx, President of Friedrich Schiller University Jena.

Commitment to science and industry

Prof. Dr Dr h.c. Michael Kaschke has been President of the Stifterverband der Deutschen Wissenschaft (Donors' Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany) since 2022 and is a member of numerous supervisory boards, including at Bosch, Ottobock and, until 2025, at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The doctor of physics is also a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. From 2014 to 2020, he was a member of the German Science Council, and from 2011 to 2020, he was Chairman of the Board of Management of the ZEISS Group.

On his election as Executive Chair of the Society of Friends and Patrons of the University of Jena, Michael Kaschke declared: ?I would like to thank the members' meeting for the trust they have placed in me. Friedrich Schiller University of Jena stands for excellence in science and innovation in a special way. In times of profound social and economic transformation, close cooperation between science and industry is of central importance. The Society of Friends and Patrons provides an important platform for this, connecting the University with companies, its alumni as committed ambassadors in business and society, and spin-offs and start-ups as key players in knowledge and technology transfer. I look forward to further strengthening this cooperation and accompanying the University of Jena on its chosen path.?

Thanks to the departing Chair

Michael Kaschke succeeds Wolfgang Meyer. The former managing director of Schott Jenaer Glas GmbH and recipient of the Federal Cross of Merit had been Executive Chair of the Society since 1999. ?As an entrepreneur, networker and long-standing Chair of the Society of Friends and Patrons, he has taken on responsibility for decades and shown great commitment to science, innovation and the common good. We owe him our special thanks and high regard for his extraordinary services to the University of Jena and Jena as a centre of science,? emphasized Wilfried Lang, Chair of the Administrative Board of the Society of Friends and Patrons of the University of Jena.

Michael Kaschke studied physics at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, where he received his doctorate in 1986 and his habilitation in 1988. After a stint at the IBM Research Center in the USA, he joined ZEISS in 1992 in research and became head of the Medical Technology division in 1998. Already a member of the Management Board since 2000, Michael Kaschke was Chairman of the Management Board of the ZEISS Group from 2011 to 2020. From 2008 to 2010, he was also Chairman of the Management Board of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG. Since 2009, Michael Kaschke has been an honorary professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at KIT, where he lectures on optical medical technology and the management of innovation processes.

The Society of Friends and Patrons of Friedrich Schiller University Jena has been supporting the University for more than three decades with ideas, funding and personal commitment. As a network of alumni, companies and prominent figures from science, business and society, it promotes projects in research and teaching, supports students, provides prizes and scholarships, and strengthens dialogue between the University, urban society and the region. The Society's goal is to support excellence in science, strengthen Jena as a centre of science in the long term and promote close ties between the University and society.