Zeppelin University mourns the loss of its long-time supporter Karl Schlecht

Prof. h.c. Dr. h.c. Dipl.-Ing. Karl Schlecht, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Karl Schlecht Foundation in Aichtal and long-time benefactor of Zeppelin University, passed away on Wednesday, August 21, after a short illness. He was 91 years old.

On behalf of all employees, students and former students, Zeppelin University extends its condolences to Karl Schlecht's family and the staff of the Karl Schlecht Foundation (KSG) and mourns the loss of a highly deserving and committed supporter. His death is a great loss not only for Zeppelin University. Karl Schlecht was an extraordinary person and philanthropist who was always committed to sharing his considerable success with as many people as possible.

Thanks to Karl Schlecht's generosity, Zeppelin University was able to open an entire institute in 2013 alongside many other projects: the Leadership Excellence Institute Zeppelin | LEIZ. "For me, he was one of the rare people who lived and combined business and scientific entrepreneurship," says Institute Director Prof. Dr. Josef Wieland on Karl Schlecht's death. "His convictions and ideas were an incentive for all members of the LEIZ, but above all for me personally. I am grateful for that. The conversations with him and his advice and suggestions were formative and will be missed. We will continue to follow his path."

Karl Schlecht received an honorary doctorate from Zeppelin University in 2022. The Senate's resolution states: "In doing so, he specifically propagated and promoted the linking of economic, ethical and social goals, which is fundamental in today's sustainability debate. He did this at a time when the shareholder value orientation of companies was the unchallenged standard in large parts of the economy, politics and society and alternative approaches received correspondingly little attention or even targeted support." The honorary doctorate is proof that Karl Schlecht was always committed to his own ideals and values.

"Karl Schlecht was widely known for his extraordinary commitment and we were shocked to hear of his death," says ZU President Prof. Dr. Klaus Mühlhahn, who presented Karl Schlecht with an honorary doctorate in October 2022. "Zeppelin University is indebted to him for his support. In view of his outstanding services to science and in particular to Zeppelin University, he more than deserved the honorary doctorate."

But the honorary doctorate from ZU was by no means the only award Karl Schlecht received. Karl Schlecht has received several awards for his work as an entrepreneur and benefactor. In 2010, he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit. He is an Honorary Senator of the University of Hohenheim and Professor h.c. of Tongji University Shanghai. In addition to various university awards, he received the highest award for inventors, the Diesel Medal, in 2011. In 2017 he received the University Prize of the University of Tübingen and most recently in 2021 he was awarded the Medal of Merit of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

In April 2022, Karl Schlecht decided to hand over the chairmanship of KSG to his daughter and two other board members and took over the chairmanship of the Board of Trustees in 2023. In 2023, his foundation was named Science Foundation of the Year and celebrated its 25th anniversary. Until the end, he devoted himself to his new building project "AICHUM", the future headquarters of the Karl Schlecht Foundation in Aichtal.