History of the Hessen Exchange

     

 

The Hessen-Wisconsin Consortium grew out of a proposal made by Erika Mueller-Blass, a delegate from the Hessian Ministry of Science and Art, during a visit to Wisconsin in 1998. The idea was to increase student mobility between the two sister states and enhance mutual cooperation among higher education institutions. The Governor of the State of Wisconsin, Tommy Thompson, was very receptive to this idea. In December 1998 the Wisconsin Governor and Hessen officials signed a "Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)" creating the Hessen-Wisconsin student exchange program.

 

In June 2001 a four-person delegation from the State of Hessen, (including Professor Dr. Stephan Hormuth, President of Justus Liebig Universitaet Giessen, Frank E. Portz, Vice-Minister of Hessian Ministry of Science and Art, Erika Mueller-Blass and Petra Biedermann, Hessen coordinator of the exchange), came to the Board of Regents' meeting to sign the Implementation Agreement to the MOU. This agreement formally established the mechanism for this exciting new student exchange between Germany and the United States.

 

 

Click here to see the Press Release of the signing.