Mr. Horst Albach was born on July 6th, 1931 in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. In 1952 he entered the distinguished University of Cologne and continued on to graduate school in the same university. Under Professor Erich Gutenberg, the founder of modern business administration, he acquired a doctorate in 1958 and passed the qualification exam to become a professor in 1960.
Professor Albach rose rapidly, assuming the position of Assistant Professor at Darmstadt Technical University, then becoming Associate Professor at Graz University followed by Associate Professor at Christian-Albrechts University Kiel before being inaugurated as a professor at the University of Bonn. He has subsequently taught at Berlin Free University, Humboldt University Berlin and Koblenz Business College.
The scope of Professor Albach’s research is broad. While focusing on business enterprise theory and positive analysis, he also incorporates various other fields including public finance, money and banking, economic policy, and economic organization and systems. His thesis for the acquisition of his professorship was a theoretical analysis of corporate activity and investment activity under financial constraint; this opened up new fronts in the field.
With precise perception, Professor Albach placed business enterprise in the center of the entire economic system while subsuming corporate division theory and establishing the general theory of enterprise, designating Optimal Theory as a foundation.
The Professor’s theory made possible his tremendous contribution to economic society through his proposals to corporate management and his involvement in policy and management as taken from the perspective of the corporation as the nucleus of the economic system.
Professor Albach served as a member of many government Advisory Committees including the Commonwealth Ministry of Economy and Public Works and Services. From 1978 to 1983, as a government economic advisory committee member, he revealed the problems of the economic structure that Germany was at the time facing, and contributed greatly to policy making for a competitive economic foundation. He also worked on a government committee in discussions over the National Railroad Reform which was conducted from the second half of the 1980s through to the beginning of the 1990s, and worked towards the establishment of a plan for its privatization. His ideas and policies regarding the market economy and the role of the public sector contributed significantly to subsequent systems of privatization and the market economization and new economic foundations of the eastern regions after the reunification of East and West Germany. Since then he has been present in numerous corporate conferences for auditors as well as making recommendations based on his observations as a professional regarding corporate policy and management.
His academic achievements and contributions to economic society were appraised highly and he was elected chairman for the Berlin Academy from 1987 to 1990. In 1992 he became a member of the Pour le Mérite Academy of Science and the Arts, and is currently Chairman. In addition, in 1990 he was the founding Chairman of the International Management Federation. His consolidation of different views and standpoints is evidenced in the trust he has gained and the international reputation of his academic achievements.
In addition to contributing to the foundation of Koblenz Business College, he has also exhibited rare leadership which has garnered the school internationally high acclaim.
Waseda University’s Graduate School of Commerce, and Graduate School of Management maintain many connections and links, which Professor Albach has played a large part in the realization and reinforcement of. His research and exchange with Waseda University has a long history; in particular he has jointly hosted international symposiums since 1996. In addition, the database of corporations created with the assistance of Waseda University students has assisted greatly with positive analysis. The results have not only gained high acclaim with international associations, but there are also great expectations for their development in the future.
In this period of globalization with Waseda University striving for international leaps in education and research activities and actively developing internationalization strategy, it is thus extremely fitting to honor Mr. Horst Albach and his research activities and contributions to economic society, as well as to this school, by designation of an Honorary Doctorate Degree.
The President, Chairman, Auditor, Regents and Faculty at Waseda University hereby agree unanimously to confer upon Mr. Horst Albach the title of Doctor of Laws.
Vivat universitas scientiarum!
Laudate quem universitas honorabit!
October 3, 2005
Waseda University
