TUM professor Marion Kiechle appointed to the Bavarian cabinet
Renowned medical researcher named Bavarian Minister of Science
With her appointment to a full professorship in Munich at the age of 39, Marion Kiechle became the first woman in Germany to hold a chair in gynecology. Since then Prof. Kiechle, who hails from Oberkirch (Baden-Württemberg), has headed the Gynecological Clinic at TUM's Klinikum rechts der Isar, where she succeeded Prof. Henner Graeff. As a student of Prof. Albrecht Pfleiderer, she completed her doctorate in the field of ovarian carcinomas (1987) and acquired her post-doctoral teaching qualification through work in tumor cytogenetics (1995) before serving as senior physician at the Gynecological Clinic of the University of Kiel. She gained international experience at the Cancer Center of the Southwest Biomedical Research Institute in Scottsdale/Arizona (USA).
Prof. Kiechle is the chairman of the Bavarian Bioethics Commission, deputy chairman of the Central Ethics Commission for Stem Cell Research of the German Federal Government, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. She has been awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2007) and the Bavarian Order of Merit (2015). Marion Kiechle has been an elected member of the Academic Senate of TUM since 2007 and has served as deputy chairman of that body since 2016.
President Herrmann: "The Bavarian Minister President sees science as a priority"
TUM President Prof. Wolfgang A. Herrmann congratulated the newly minted cabinet minister: "The appointment of a top scientist to head this key ministry underscores Minister President Dr. Markus Söder's belief in the importance of science for Bavaria's future. Of course we at the Technical University of Munich are losing a gifted doctor, an experienced hospital administrator and an outstanding researcher. However, she will be in an even better position to dedicate all of her talents to the service of science and culture in our state."
The president also expressed his gratitude to the departing Minister of Science, Dr. Ludwig Spaenle: "As the head of this large ministry, you opened your broad educational horizon to the entire sphere of education, cultural affairs, science, research and the arts, and showed enormous commitment in fostering its ongoing development in a time of increasing international competition."