The University of Wisconsin campus celebrated Emeritus Professor Jost Hermand the weekend of September 9-11th.
Hermand, professor emeritus of German, is widely considered the most famous living scholar of German literature and culture -- and even at 80-years-old, Hermand still teachers in Berlin and at UW-Madison.
The celebration included UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin who received her Ph.D. summa cum laude from the UW-Madison Department of German in 1985 and wrote her dissertation under the mentorship of Hermand.
The weekend kicked off with a reception at the Chancellor's residence at Olin House hosted by Martin.
The event drew a crowd of speakers and Ph.D students and included a program put together by Hermand's former students. His students reminisced about the impact his teaching has had on their careers and lives.
The event was moderated by Hermand's most recent Ph.D. advisee, (Matt Lange, an assistant professor of German at UW-Whitewater), and included the presentation of an original composition by fellow Hermand Ph.D. Eric Paul Jacobsen, and performed by Jacobsen himself and a musical ensemble of current graduate students in German.
The Chancellor also announced the creation of the Jost Hermand Graduate Fund, started this year by German alumni and long-time supporters Mary and Bill Seeger.
This fund will help the department chair support graduate students including travel and research needs.
The celebrations continued on Saturday with the 43rd Wisconsin Workshop hosted by the Department of German.
A banquet followed at the University Club when Robert Holub, another Hermand Ph.D. and now Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, presented a witty and moving laudatio to the guest of honor and a roomful of illustrious conference speakers, guests and alumni.