Obituary for Prof. Dr Hans J. Tümmers (1944–2026)
Hans Tümmers joined Reutlingen University as a lecturer in 1973. In 1976, as a young professor, he took up the post of Dean of the Department of International Business. And as early as 1978, together with his colleagues, he developed the idea of a European, internationally integrated degree programme. In 1979, he was finally appointed founding Dean of the new ESB Department. Hans Tümmers was one of those people who did not merely operate within existing structures. He created new, truly disruptive structures, thereby anticipating developments that would only become an integral part of European higher education years later. With the establishment of the ‘European Study Programme in Business Administration’ in 1979, the first international dual-degree programme in business administration was launched in Germany.
From the very beginning, the collaboration with the first partner universities in France, the United Kingdom and Spain went beyond that of a traditional exchange programme. It was based on the idea that academic education and European understanding can and should be linked.
The signing of the cooperation agreement on 16 March 1979 (from left to right: Gerry Earsl, Hans J. Tümmers and Jean-Claude Damay)
Students were to study in different countries, be educated within shared study programmes, and ultimately obtain degrees from several partner universities, underpinned by the idea of ‘unity in diversity’.
This vision required courage and the ability to turn an idea into concrete steps. It was precisely this combination of vision and pragmatism that characterised Hans Tümmers. Prof. Dr Ottmar Schneck, former Dean of the ESB Business School, later described him as a man of “visionary imagination” and, at the same time, “hands-on pragmatism”.
It was by no means a foregone conclusion that the original idea would develop into a lasting success story. In the autumn of 1979, the ‘European Study Programme in Business Administration’ commenced its academic activities with just six professors and 32 students.
Hans Tümmers did not view the ESB merely as a place of good teaching. He wanted to create a faculty that thinks internationally, acts entrepreneurially and opens up exceptional opportunities for its students. He therefore sought close links with alumni and the business community from an early stage. As early as 1977, he initiated the founding of the Reutlingen Business Graduates’ Association, drawing inspiration from the close-knit alumni culture of the French Grandes Écoles.
His work in Reutlingen came to an end in 1990, but his connection with the ESB was never severed. After serving as European Affairs Adviser to the Minister for Economic Affairs of Baden-Württemberg, as Head of a management school in Strasbourg and as President of a private university, he returned to the ESB in 2004. Even after leaving the ESB once again in 2008, he continued to support and initiate international collaborations, including with partners in Strasbourg and Kraków.
Much of what is now an integral part of the ESB Business School’s identity – such as international study programmes, integrated periods of study abroad, dual degrees, close partnerships with universities around the world, and an international community of students and lecturers – can be traced back to the foundations laid by Hans Tümmers and his colleagues at that time.
From the ESB’s perspective, however, perhaps something else is the most lasting tribute to his life’s work: generations of students have experienced what it means to study in several countries, to get to know different academic and social cultures, and to forge friendships across borders.
We shall remember Prof. Dr Hans J. Tümmers as a visionary academic, a courageous founder, a passionate European and a dedicated pioneer of international higher education.
His vision lives on: at the ESB, in its international partnerships and, above all, in the people who, through the ESB, have learnt to look beyond borders.
Our thoughts are with all those who were personally close to him.
ESB Business School
Reutlingen University
