ZHdK bids farewell to Thomas Meier
The members of the ZHdK bid farewell to Thomas D. Meier as Rector in the presence of Cantonal Councillor and Director of Education Silvia Steiner in a festive setting with music, dancing and greetings from all over the world.
Thomas D. Meier, born in Basel in 1958 and raised in Wil/SG, was elected Rector of the ZHdK (Zurich University of the Arts) by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences Council in December 2008. In 2010, he was elected to the Representative Board of ELIA (European League of Institutes of the Arts), and from 2014 to 2018 he chaired this major association of European art academies.
In 2013 and 2014, he was also President of the Rectors' Conference of Swiss Universities of Applied Sciences and a member of the Board of swissuniversities. Previously, the doctor of history and English was Director of the Bern University of the Arts. From 1996 to 2003, he was director of the Museum of Communication in Bern. Thomas D. Meier currently chairs the Board of Trustees of the PROGR Center for Cultural Production in Bern.
Meier was responsible for the ZHdK's move from 39 locations to the Toni-Areal in Zurich West in 2014. According to the ZHdK press release, the current study reform into a major-minor system, which is unique in Europe and was initiated and driven forward by Thomas D. Meier, is just as important. From the fall semester 2023/24, students will be able to put together their studies individually and across disciplines.
Under Meier's leadership, the ZHdK entered into numerous long-term collaborations with other Zurich universities, for example in the Digitization Initiative of Zurich Universities (DIZH), the Collegium Helveticum and the Zurich Knowledge Center for Sustainable Development. Thomas D. Meier also initiated pioneering projects in the area of internationalization: He made the ZHdK more visible internationally and raised its profile, for example with the establishment of the Zurich Center for Creative Economies or the international cooperation platform Shared Campus.
One of his particular concerns was the independent right to award doctorates. By establishing doctoral programs in cooperation with partner universities, he brought the ZHdK a big step closer to this goal. With around 2,100 students and 650 lecturers, the ZHdK is now one of the largest art academies in Europe and has been institutionally accredited since 2021.
