Peter Gaehtgens

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Peter Gaehtgens (born 1 September 1937 in Dresden) is a German professor of physiology. In 1999, he became president of Free University of Berlin after winning the associated elections against Gesine Schwan. He stayed in this position until 2003,[1] when he was elected president of the German "Rector's Conference" (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz). Gaethgens was a leading proponent of the country-wide introduction of tuition fees at German universities. For this reason, he was heavily criticized in public.[citation needed]

Cake-smashing incident[edit]

On 2 November 2005, during the last year of his tenure,[2] this criticism culminated in an attack by four protesting students who smashed two cakes in his face amid a plenary session at the University of Tübingen.[3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Prof. Dr. Peter Gaehtgens". Friend of Freie Universität Berlin. 2007-11-29. Archived from the original on 2007-07-14. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  2. ^ "Professor Peter Gaehtgens stands down as President of the HRK". German Rector's Conference (HRK). 2005-11-23. Archived from the original on 2006-09-04. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  3. ^ "Schoko-Sahne für den Rektorenchef (German)". Spiegel Online. 2005-11-03. Retrieved 2008-08-01.