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| from left: Karl-Friedrich Stracke, Dr. Klaus Draeger, Bernhard Mattes, Friedrich W. Gieseler, Andreas Renschler, Dr. Klaus Engel, Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Dudenhöffer |
The ÖkoGlobe Institute of Duisburg-Essen University is presenting Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler with this year's ÖkoGlobe for Personality of the Year. The prize honours the achievements in business and cultural and social contributions of Ms Schaeffler, co-owner of the Schaeffler Group, Deputy Chairperson of the Supervisory Board of Schaeffler GmbH and Supervisory Board Member of Continental AG.
"Thanks to her keen awareness of the interests of everyone at the company and her great self-discipline, Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler has managed to build a business with an extremely admirable corporate culture as well as great economic results," the jury explained. "The strategic guidelines that Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler uses to direct the company are determined by high social, environmental and quality standards. She has shaped the group into a successful, global, modern family-owned enterprise and given it a particularly sustainable strategic orientation."
In this context, the jury highlighted the Schaeffler Group's activities in the field of sustainable technologies, including the optimisation of tracking sys-tems for solar power systems, the development of wave energy converters to harness the power of the ocean, and drive train solutions for wind tur-bines. The jury also pointed to the company's commitment to the field of electromobility and its contribution to reducing the fuel consumption of combustion engines.
Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler said: "It is a great pleasure for me to accept the ÖkoGlobe for the Personality of the Year. I regard this not only as recogni-tion of my character and the work I have done over the 15 years since my husband passed away, but also as confirmation and recognition of the great technological achievements of the Schaeffler Group."
The ÖkoGlobe, launched in 2007, is the mobility industry's first international environment prize. Under the patronage of Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen, the prize is awarded by the insurance group DEVK and the auto-mobile club AVC in partnership with the ÖkoGlobe Institute of Duisburg-Essen University. The winners are selected by a prestigious jury of experts from the fields of science, politics, business and culture.
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