Dr Annette Lang
Our alumni board, personally speaking
Dr Annette Lang has been Head of Division for International Relations and Development Cooperation in the Bremen State Chancellery since March 2021. Previously, she headed the International Office at the University of Bremen from 2009 to 2021. She studied landscape and open space planning at Leibniz University Hannover and in Tours, France from 1990 to 1997 and received her PhD from the Faculty of Architecture and Landscape Sciences in Hannover in 2003.
Volunteering…that’s all well and good, but it also means work. Why do you serve on the board of the alumni association?
While I was working at Uni Bremen’s International Office, I got to know the alumni association as a valuable partner. Without their volunteer commitment, it wouldn’t have been possible to implement so many ideas and projects. I would now like to give something back. And also in my current job I see every day how irreplaceable volunteer work is for vibrant international partnerships.
What was an alumni experience where you thought: “Wow, what a great association!”?
I can't name a specific experience, but it was and is the openness for new ideas, the desire to push something forward together and to enrich university life. That’s what the association stands for.
When have you thought: "We could do better”?
We need do even better in reaching active students. What can the alumni association offer students to get them interested in alumni work during their studies and entice them to become (future) members? Good ideas are always welcome here!
Uni Bremen alumni in ten years: What will be different from today?
I hope that the number of chapters around the world will have grown even more by then. With international graduates in particular, we always notice how happy they are to hear news from Bremen, and when they can show visitors from Bremen around their home country and talk with them about their often enriching and formative time at the University of Bremen. We can do more with this and further expand our network.
About your time studying/working at Uni Bremen, what makes you say: “I wouldn’t miss that for anything!”?
Uni Bremen was a wonderful place to work, with lots of room to create and develop, but above all it was my fantastic colleagues, with whom I was able to realise so many ideas and projects, and who I definitely wouldn’t want to have missed the chance to know.
When you’re not busy with alumni and the University of Bremen, what else is important to you in life?
Professionally, I have the great good fortune to be able to pursue an occupation that’s always exciting and, most importantly, enriching in every way. That’s not a given, and since a considerable portion of our lifetimes are spent working, that’s very important to me. And other than that, it’s important for me to have enough time for travelling to exciting places and a good book here and there.