Friends of Freiburg Alumni North America

Rector Prof. Dr. Hans-Jochen Schiewer has conferred the University Medal on Jeffrey A. Himmel as a sign of appreciation and gratitude for his services to the University of Freiburg. The president of the North American Chapter of the Freiburg Alumni Club has worked for years to build up a transatlantic network of alumni and donors.

Jeffrey A. Himmel (Photo: Andreas Wekler)

Jeffrey A. Himmel’s work on behalf of alumni enables them to maintain contact with their German university and their former classmates in Freiburg. The medal is the highest honor the university has to offer and is conferred on outstanding personalities who render exceptional services to the University of Freiburg.

 Mr. Himmel played an instrumental role in the foundation of the North America Chapter of the Freiburg Alumni Club in 2011 and has since served as the main contact for former Freiburg students in the USA. The club provides information to alumni and organizes social, cultural, and educational activities. In addition, Mr. Himmel supports the University College Freiburg (UCF) as a member of a specially appointed committee in North America. Students from the US are one of the target groups of the English-taught degree program Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) at the UCF, which gives students from Harvard University and Penn State University the chance to study at the University of Freiburg as foreign exchange students. The goal is to combine the strengths of the tradition of liberal arts and sciences in the US with the outstanding range of course offerings at the University of Freiburg.

Jeffrey Himmel studied history, political science, and economics at Connecticut College, USA. He spent the academic years 1975/76 and 1977/78 at the University of Freiburg. Today he works in the steel industry as founder and president of the Artco Group.