Building bridges for ETH alumni
Ruedi Hofer was as surprised as anyone to be appointed the new President of the ETH Alumni Association.
“When Chantal Weibel asked me out of the blue whether I would consider becoming President of the ETH Alumni Association, I was flattered but somewhat taken aback,” says Ruedi Hofer with a grin. Surely he wasn’t a suitable choice, he argued: he didn’t move in ETH circles, and he was just a simple engineer, not a high-profile figure. However, Weibel, a member of the selection committee, insisted he was exactly the right person for the job – and after a couple of days of reflection and a long chat with his wife, Hofer accepted.
“But that didn’t mean I had the job!” he says. He still had to apply through the official channels, with a CV and a personal statement on why he thought he was a good choice. “I felt it was a great way to round off my career. And when alumni join forces, I believe we can make a real difference – that’s why the role appealed to me,” says Hofer. Far from viewing it merely as an honorary post, he saw it as a chance to feed his knowledge back into the ETH community after a long career in planning, construction, administration, education and research.
After graduating from ETH with a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering, Hofer held a series of managerial positions in both the private and public sectors. Work in various engineering consortia eventually led him to Gruner AG and then to the civil engineering office of the canton of Basel-Landschaft, where as cantonal engineer he worked together closely with the ETH Institute for Geotechnical Engineering.
He was subsequently appointed managing director of the public company NSNW, which maintains and manages major roads in northwestern Switzerland. It was during this period that he received a call from a headhunter who would later catapult his career in a whole new direction.
Robots in action
This text appeared in the 25/04 issue of the ETH magazine Globe.
Alongside his professional accomplishments, Hofer was also active in the military, becoming commander of a pontoon battalion and rising to the rank of colonel in the engineering corps. A firm believer in lifelong learning, he was also busy honing his skills. He attended the postgraduate programme in Industrial Engineering and Management Science at the Bern School of Engineering and obtained an Executive Master of Public Administration from the University of Bern. These were followed by an Executive Programme in higher education management at HEM, the organisation for Swiss universities, plus a Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Higher Education Didactics at the Zurich University of Teacher Education (PH Zurich). “It was fascinating being able to study at all those different types of institution,” says Hofer.
The career-changing call from a headhunter came when Hofer was in his eighth year as managing director of NSNW. The School of Architecture, Construction and Geomatics at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) was looking for a new director. “I remember forwarding the job ad to people I knew,” he says. But he never imagined applying for the post himself until the headhunter called – and it took less than a minute for him to realise that he was a perfect fit. “As an engineer, I spent 30 years working in planning, building, maintaining and operating facilities. But now I was intrigued by the idea of combining research and practice and looking at the built environment in a holistic and sustainable way,” he says. As director, Hofer was also responsible for strategy. “That’s when we came up with the idea of creating an organisation for civil engineering alumni,” he says. “So in 2017, I became a member of the ETH Alumni Association to see how they run it!”
Although Hofer was already in regular contact with professors in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, he had never felt the urge to join the Alumni Association. “The only thing we had when I was at ETH was GEP, the association of former students of the Swiss Federal Poly?technic School,” he recalls. “I pictured it as an exclusive club of wealthy old men, which didn’t appeal to me at all.” And even his membership of the ETH Alumni Association was relatively short-lived – Hofer cancelled it in 2024, when he retired.
So how did he end up becoming President? “In the view of the selection committee, Ruedi Hofer’s background and experience made him the perfect candidate,” says Weibel. His great personality was another plus. “We were very taken with Ruedi’s friendly, thoughtful manner. He knows how to listen and build bridges – and that’s exactly what the Alumni Association needs to take it forward,” she adds. Building bridges is something Hofer will be focusing on in the months ahead – not only strengthening ties to the other members of the board but also reaching out to the delegates of the member organisations, who were unhappy with the previous board’s efforts.
“The main focus right now is a review of the Knowledge Network project, which had to be shelved after three years,” says Hofer. But he will also have plenty of other tasks to occupy his time. A framework agreement with ETH has already been signed; this governs the collaboration between ETH and the Alumni Association and was part of the transformation completed by the former board before the handover. The current board has now launched a strategy development process to set future priorities. This will look at what ETH alumni can do for their own community, for ETH and for society at large – and at what kind of areas they want to be active in. Hofer has set a six-month deadline to come up with some concrete answers. “We’ve all come into this to make a difference and I’m optimistic that we can deliver real benefits,” he says with a smile.
Members of the board
Ruedi Hofer leads the Alumni Association as President, overseeing both its operations and its external relations. Vice President Avrath Chadha, whose work takes him around the world, will focus on building international networks with partner organ?isations – though strategy will take priority for now. Aino Hacklin manages the finances. The three together form the executive committee.
Simon Suhrbeer handles business processes and IT – a key undertaking for an organisation with roughly 30,000 members. Thomas Erb is responsible for large-scale events. nd selection committee head Chantal Weibel, though initially hesitant to join the board, has agreed to take on the task of maintaining relationships with member organisations. Lukas Sigrist, who is in charge of continuing education and training in ETH’s Rectorate, accepted the role as the university’s representative.