Michael Otmar Hengartner (born 5 June 1966,

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

) is a Swiss-

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

and

molecular biologist Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

. From February 2020 he has been president of the ETH Board. Before that he was the president of the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

and president of the Swiss Rectors' Conference, swissuniversities.

Early life and education

Hengartner was born in 1966, the son of a Swiss mathematics professor. The family moved first to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, later to

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Indiana, Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside ...

and then to

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

, where he grew up. He studied biochemistry at the

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montmo ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, and graduated with a B.S. in 1988. He received a doctorate in 1994 from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

under H. Robert Horvitz. He then led a research group at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Career

In 1997, he co-founded the biotech company Devgen. In 2001, he was appointed to the newly established Ernst Hadorn Endowed Professorship at the Institute of Molecular Biology of the University of Zurich. In 2008, he co-founded the scientific consultancy company Evaluescience. From 2009 to 2014, he was Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the University of Zurich; and from 2014 to 2019, rector of the University of Zurich. Since 2019, he has been director of the ETH Board and since 2009, a member of the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. On February 1, 2020, he took up his position as President of the ETH Board. In August 2020 Hengartner spoke about the Swiss lack of courage to "think big" despite investing heavily in education and basic research. He confirmed

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , ac ...

's efforts to fostering a culture of innovation achieving faster market maturity of innovative products, especially in the area of digitization and climate. In November 2021 Hengartner highlighted the concerns about the consequences of brain drain from Switzerland. In January 2022, Hengartner drew attention to Switzerland experiencing the first consequences of being excluded from Horizon Europe with top Swiss scientists losing leadership roles in Horizon projects and young scientists being denied internationally recognised grants and the resulting problems of attracting leading scientists. He emphasised the urgency for the Swiss

State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation The State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI within the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research EAER is the federal government's specialised agency for national and international matters concerning ed ...

to find alternative ways forward and for politicians to ensure its funding, but he also hoped for an EU agreement by the end of 2022. In February 2022, in run up to the Swiss referendum on animal testing, Hengartner stood his ground in a debate, emphasising that Swiss laws ranked human life higher than that of animals, which is a moral value people either do or don't share, but at the same time he also highlighted the resulting tightrope walk of balancing the benefit of research for humans against the suffering of animals. In October 2022 Hengartner discussed Switzerland's scientific advantage through the high number of well-known residential scientists making it an attractive choice for the upcoming generation, but also referred to his concerns over the EU's decision to relegate Switzerland to a „non-associated third country“, robbing Switzerland of its position of influence in

Horizon Europe Horizon Europe is a 7-year European Union scientific research initiative, successor of the Horizon 2020 programme and the earlier Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development. The European Commission drafted and approved a plan ...

, the EU's 7-year scientific research programme, as well as denying it access to future funding from the

European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...

. He is a member of the

Swiss National Science Foundation The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF, German: ''Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung'', SNF; French: ''Fonds national suisse de la recherche scientifique'', FNS; Italian: ''Fondo nazionale svizzero ...

Private life

Hengartner is married to biologist Denise Hengartner. The couple has six children.

Research interests

Hengartner is researching the molecular basis of

apoptosis Apoptosis (from grc, ἀπόπτωσις, apóptōsis, 'falling off') is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms. Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes (morphology) and death. These changes incl ...

. He uses especially the nematode

Caenorhabditis elegans ''Caenorhabditis elegans'' () is a free-living transparent nematode about 1 mm in length that lives in temperate soil environments. It is the type species of its genus. The name is a blend of the Greek ''caeno-'' (recent), ''rhabditis'' (ro ...

as molecular organism. He is also investigating mechanisms of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

Alzheimer's Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As t ...

and geriatric diseases.

Awards

* 2003: Dr. Josef Steiner Cancer Research Prize * 2006: National Latsis Prize of Switzerland * 2006: Cloëtta Prize * 2010: Credit Suisse Award for Best Teaching from the University of Zurich * 2016:

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

Université Pierre et Marie Curie Pierre and Marie Curie University (french: link=no, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, UPMC), also known as Paris 6, was a public research university in Paris, France, from 1971 to 2017. The university was located on the Jussieu Campus in the La ...

and the

University of Paris-Sorbonne Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; french: Université Paris-Sorbonne, Paris IV) was a public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the Universit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hengartner, Michael Swiss biochemists Canadian biochemists Molecular biologists 1966 births Université Laval alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni People associated with the University of Zurich People from St. Gallen (city) Swiss emigrants to Canada Living people