MICHAEL KASCHKE, CEO OF CARL ZEISS AG, RECEIVED AN HONORARY DOCTORATE FROM THE FACULTY OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY AT THE FRIEDRICH SCHILLER UNIVERSITY IN JENA

Michael Kaschke, CEO of Carl Zeiss AG, received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena yesterday.
Michael Kaschke, born in 1957, studied physics at the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, received his doctorate in 1986 and habilitated in 1988. “During this time he has made significant contributions to the production and application of ultrashort laser pulses, including one of the first studies in the field of femtosecond laser spectroscopy. He has thus contributed to making Jena one of the world's leading locations for ultra-short pulse laser physics,” stressed Jena's laser expert Prof. Dr. Gerhard G. Paulus, who gave the laudatory speech at the ceremony. “Kaschke continued his research at the Max Born Institute in Berlin and at the IBM Research Center in the USA. In 1992, he joined ZEISS and quickly made a name for himself as a scientist,” said Prof. Dr. Andreas Wipf. The dean of the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, together with university president Prof. Dr. Walter Rosenthal, presented the certificate. The new honorary doctor Kaschke gave a lecture “From Bench to Social Impact. The development of short-term laser physics from basics to gold standards in healthcare”. In his more than 25 years at ZEISS, Kaschke was responsible for the Medical Technology division, among other things, before taking over overall responsibility for the Group as CEO in 2011. His work goes beyond high-tech companies, as the prudent business leader repeatedly bridges the gap between business and science. He is an honorary professor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. In addition, Kaschke is also committed to optics and photonics worldwide - including in the communication of information to the general public. He is one of the co-founders of the German Optical Museum in Jena. In addition, he supports science and education in general: as a member of the Science Council to which he has belonged since 2014, or previously as a member of the Jena University Council.
With Kaschke, the Friedrich-Schiller-University wins, as many experts emphasize, an outstanding personality of the German industrial and scientific landscape as a new honorary doctorate. And Kaschke stands in a row with other “Zeissians” who have been awarded an honorary doctorate by Jena University, such as Carl Zeiss (1880), Ernst Abbe (1896), Rudolf Straubel (1913 and 1930) and Hugo Schrade (1965).