The IfK mourns the loss of Univ.-Prof. em. Dr. Dr. h. c. Siegfried J. Schmidt

(07.03.2025) After a long illness, Siegfried J. Schmidt passed away on Monday, 3 March. He moved from Siegen to Münster in 1997 – during a difficult phase for the institute. As managing director from 1998 to 2002, it is thanks to him that the disputes at the institute at that time were resolved. Through his integrative leadership of the institute, he played a key role in the consolidation and reorganisation of the IfK.

The name of his chair, Communication Theory and Media Culture, already reflects the interdisciplinary character for which he stood academically. Under his aegis, the ‘Culture, Communication & Management’ degree programme (formerly ‘Applied Cultural Studies’) was reformed and realigned in 2001, but despite extremely successful application and graduation rates, it was not integrated and was discontinued after Schmidt's retirement. Nevertheless, the concept of media culture remained relevant for the IfK: the ‘Society, Public, Culture’ module of the BA degree programmes still bears his signature today.

In 2002, Schmidt was also instrumental in establishing an endowed professorship for public relations, which is still an integral part of the academic orientation of the local institute today.

He is regarded as a leading theorist in communication and media studies (and far beyond). He is perhaps best remembered for his further development of constructivism into a sociocultural, media-based approach. His media culture theory considerations on the systematic concept of media compact, the broad, reflexive concept of culture, and the constants of media evolution also shaped the field. He also gave advertising research new theoretical momentum.

Since 1964, Siegfried J. Schmidt has published an enormous number of works in around twenty languages, and he did not stop even after his retirement in 2006. He was a visiting professor at 13 universities abroad, including Hiroshima, Melbourne, Vienna, Pisa and Klagenfurt, where he was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2004. Even after his retirement, Siegfried J. Schmidt remained a welcome and sought-after visiting professor and lecturer at numerous universities in Germany and abroad. Throughout his life, Schmidt also made a name for himself as an artist, particularly in the field of modern lyric poetry and concrete poetry. He was, in every sense, a bridge builder.

The faculty and alumni of the IfK are grateful for his many enriching contributions to the institute and the field of communication studies. Our deepest sympathies go out to his wife and family.

 

Contact person public relations:
Dr. Stephan Völlmicke
Telefon: +49 251 83-23006
Telefax: +49 251 83-21310 (Geschäftszimmer IfK)