Emil Jürgen Zöllner (July 11, 1945 in Mährisch Neustadt) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

medical professional and politician (

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...

). From 1991 to 2006, he served as Minister of Education and Science in

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

, and additionally as Deputy Minister-President from May to November 2006. During the 2006 to 2011 legislative period, he headed the Senate Department for Education, Youth, and Science of the

Berlin Senate The Senate of Berlin (; unofficially: ) is the executive body governing the city of Berlin, which at the same time is a state of Germany. According to the Constitution of Berlin the Senate consists of the Governing Mayor of Berlin and up to ten ...

. With more than 20 years of uninterrupted service as a minister, he was at one point the longest-serving minister in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Till Backhaus currently holds this position.

Early life and career

After graduating in 1964, Zöllner studied medicine until 1969 in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

and

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

, completed his doctorate in 1970, and obtained his habilitation in 1975. In 1977, Zöllner was a recipient of a DFG scholarship at the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. In 1977, Zöllner became a professor of

Physiological chemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. From 1983 to 1990, he served as its vice president, and Later, until 1991, as president. From 1991 to 2011, he held ministerial positions in state governments in

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. Since 2012, Zöllner has been working as a board member of the Charité Foundation.

Politics

Zöllner has been a member of the

since 1972. On May 21, 1991, Rudolf Scharping, the then Minister-President of

, appointed him as Minister for Science and Continuing Education in his cabinet. In the following years, the structure of the ministries changed. Thus, in the Beck I cabinet from October 1994, Zöllner also took over the education portfolio. After another reorganization of the departments, in the Beck III cabinet from May 2001, Zöllner served as Minister for Science, Continuing Education, Research, and Culture in Rhineland-Palatinate. On May 18, 2006, Minister-President

Kurt Beck Kurt Beck (born 5 February 1949) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), who served as the 7th Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1994 to 2013 and as the 55th President of the Bundesrat in 2000–01. In May 2 ...

appointed him as Deputy Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate. From November 24, 2006, Zöllner served as Senator for Education, Science, and Research in

Minister in Rhineland-Palatinate (1991–2006)

In 1997, Zöllner, with his legislative proposal for the University Medical Center Mainz, for the first time transformed a university clinic into a legal entity under public law; an example soon followed by other federal states. Also in 1997, he initiated an empirical shift in educational policy: as a minister and A-state coordinator in the KMK (Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany), Zöllner introduced the so-called "Konstanz Resolution" (October 24, 1997) to conduct cross-state comparative studies on the learning and performance levels of students. This marked a turning point: Since then,

has regularly participated in international comparative studies such as

PISA Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

TIMSS The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA)'s Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is a series of international assessments of the mathematics and science knowledge of students aro ...

, and IGLU.

Awards

* 1994:

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from the

University of Burgundy The University of Burgundy Europe (, UBE; formerly known as University of Dijon) is a public university located in Dijon, France. The University of Burgundy Europe is situated on a large campus (more than 150 ha) in the eastern part of Dijon cal ...

* 2003: Officer of the National Order of Meritorious * 2006:

Leibniz Medal The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (), abbreviated BBAW, is the official academic society for the natural sciences and humanities for the States of Germany, German states of Berlin and Brandenburg. Housed in three locations ...

from the Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz * 2009: Honorary Doctorate from Uni Mainz (honorary degree for research and teaching in University Medicine Mainz) * 2012:

Federal Cross of Merit The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

, 1st Class * 2020: Leibniz Medal from the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zöllner, Jürgen Living people 1945 births Senators of Berlin Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians