Awards

The two awardees of the FS Spirit Award are honoured as lifelong Frankfurt School role models. They are given their own spot on our Donor Wall and their names appear next to the names of illustrious companies, alumni and parents who have donated thousands – in some cases even millions – of euros to Frankfurt School.

Professor Hagenmüller was born in Naila in Germany’s Upper Franconia region in 1917. He died on September 29, 2009.

Professor Hagenmüller started by studying Mechanical Engineering and Business Administration at university, interrupting his studies to serve in the army in the Second World War, during which he earned the rank of captain. He resumed his Business Administration studies in 1946, graduating one year later. He was awarded his doctorate in 1948. Following his accreditation as a university lecturer (habilitation) in 1950, he was given a teaching post at the University of Munich, moving to Goethe University Frankfurt in 1952, where he was named Chair of Banking & Finance in 1953. He also headed the university’s Institute of Cooperative Studies, Trades and Crafts.

In 1966, he moved to Dresdner Bank, where he was appointed to the Board of Directors in 1967. Dresdner Bank’s famous “Silver Tower” was built during his time at the bank; until 1990, it was the tallest building in Frankfurt. He continued to maintain a close relationship with Goethe University as Honorary Professor of Business Administration, specialising in bank management in particular.

Professor Hagenmüller produced his three-volume opus “Bankbetriebslehre” (About Bank Management) in 1964. It has become a standard reference work, now in its fifteenth edition.

Professor Hagenmüller sat on numerous boards and committees of both businesses (e.g. as President of GfK in Nuremberg, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bilfinger & Berger) and academic institutions (such as the Schmalenbach Society and the Fraunhofer Society).

Together with Dr Reinhold Sellien, Professor Hagenmüller co-founded Bankakademie (the Banking Academy) in 1957; he worked as the institution’s Academic Director for many years.

Professor Hagenmüller remained closely involved with Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, the successor to Bankakademie, until the day he died. He gave “his” business school all the benefits of his own extensive experience, based on his research, teaching and real-world practice. He also founded his own eponymous foundation, which continues to sponsor Frankfurt School and its students today.

In February 2009, Frankfurt School’s Executive Board decided to name a professorship after Karl Friedrich Hagenmüller, both to honour one of the business school’s founders and as an expression of thanks for his many years of invaluable advice and support. Professor Dr Martin Hellmich currently holds the Karl Friedrich Hagenmüller Chair of Financial Risk Management

As an enormously appreciated and beloved colleague, she left her imprint on our business school. To express our appreciation and in fond memory of her inspiring personality, the faculty members and alumni of Frankfurt School set up the Hildegard Leonardi Memorial Prize in 1999, to recognise students who have worked especially hard to address the social concerns of their fellow students.