The Foundation of the Department of Economics

The Department of Economics recognized early on the importance of partnerships for research funding and established the Excellence Foundation Zurich in 2011 as a connector and impulse generator. Since then, the main purpose of the foundation has been to identify and enter into partnerships that support the Department in its development into a center of excellence in research and education. The Excellence Foundation Zurich is an independent foundation under Swiss law.

«Changes in society are always based on individual behavior. I see our responsibility as economists in analyzing how people make decisions and what motivates them - with the aim of better understanding social processes and improving them for the benefit of all.»

Prof. Ernst Fehr, University of Zurich

Board of trustees

The Excellence Foundation Zurich is competently led by a Board of Trustees, consisting of four members. All members serve on a voluntary basis.

Prof. Ernst Fehr

President of the Board of Trustees
Professor of microeconomics and experimental economic research at the Department of Economics at the University of Zurich

Roger Liebi

Member of the Board of Trustees
Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Zürcher Kantonalbank

Stefan Schnyder

Member of the Board of Trustees
Vice President Finances and Human Resources at the University of Zurich

Prof. Ralph Ossa

Member of the Board of Trustees
WTO Chief Economist and Kühne Foundation Professor at the Department of Economics at the University of Zurich

Scientific Advisory Committee

The Scientific Advisory Committee of the Excellence Foundation Zurich consists of three Nobel laureates in Economics. They guarantee research and education at the highest international level.

Prof. George A. Akerlof

University of California, Berkeley
2001 Nobel Prize for the analysis of markets with asymmetrical information

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Prof. James Heckman

University of Chicago
2000 Nobel Prize for the development of theories and methods in microeconomics

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Prof. Daniel Kahneman

Princeton University
2002 Nobel Prize for the introduction of insights from psychological research into economics

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Management

The management team leads the Excellence Foundation Zurich according to its purpose in daily business. It maintains and forms the contacts of the Department of Economics with donors, alumni, and decision-makers from politics, business, and institutions. Katrin Polzer, Managing Director, is supported by Anne Kerstin Aeberli and Charlotte Ulmann. They are happy to answer all your questions and concerns.