CSH mourns the loss of Hannes Androsch, who passed away on Dec 11 at the age of 86. We will deeply miss him – as Chair of our Strategic Advisory Board, a guiding force of the institute, and a fantastic intellectual. Hannes taught us to live up to his motto, ‘Never give up’, and inspired us to persevere even in challenging circumstances.
by Stefan Thurner
Many things will be said about this great man. Here is one fact: Without Hannes Androsch there would be no CSH. Literally, from the first minutes of the inception of the crazy idea to have a world leading center for 21st century science, focusing on the betterment of society with digital skills and science in Austria, he became a proactive, energetic, and steadfast supporter. His engagement fueled the necessary energy to founding, designing, building, and nurturing the CSH that now – doubtless and against all odds – is a reality. In particular, the doctoral program of CSH that we were able to open last year is a brainchild of Hannes that he persistently pursued over years. He was essential for securing the initial startup funds for CSH, and he has been an intellectual mentor and teacher for us on how to actually make ideas become real.
I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to walk a few steps alongside this great visionary, this rare intellectual who tried to understand situations and systems to a level that would allow him to actually change the game. He proved that ability many times, maybe the most impactful example being his persistent fight to fix the exchange rate between the Schilling and the German Mark, which he fought through in his time as a finance minister against the entire establishment and the Central Bank at the time.
Hannes had this rare ability of thinking in multiple scenarios including their non-intended consequences for him and for society. He had the ability to focus on the big picture, while getting annoyed by discussing the wrong details, but loving to understand the relevant ones.
He had a deep joy of being intelligent and seeing intelligence in others. And he had this fantastic sense of humor – that must not be mistaken with sarcasm – that allowed him to communicate his observations on where he thought things went wrong in a charming, entertaining and most intelligent way.
Hannes’s ideas were always bigger than what we could realize – until today. In the last years he was a great supporter of the idea of a “global transition university” – a completely new way of rethinking universities in the 21st century. He now left us too early to see if such an idea might take off.
Not many people are able to discuss profound ideas. Losing brilliant visionaries like him makes the world a little darker. He will be deeply missed.
Our thoughts are with his family.
