New Prinzessin Therese von Bayern Chair

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Gudrun Kadereit holds the Chair of Systematics, Biodiversity and Evolution of Plants, which is now named after Princess Therese of Bavaria: The chair is linked with the directorship of the Botanische Staatssammlung München, where the botanical collections of Princess Therese are kept. The Prinzessin Therese von Bayern Chair of Systematics, Biodiversity and Evolution of Plants is funded by the charitable foundation in the princess’s name with an initial sum of 400,000 euros; the Edith Haberland Wagner Foundation (Munich) is also involved in the funding.

Biologist Gudrun Kadereit conducts research on the systematics and diversification of various flowering plant families, investigating the evolution of complex traits. The newly appointed LMU professor came to Munich from the University of Mainz. “From everything I have learned so far about Princess Therese of Bavaria, she was a multi-talented, clever and extremely courageous woman who, against much opposition and with incredible energy, followed her thirst for knowledge and studied the diversity of nature and indigenous people on her numerous travels. It is an honor that the chair I head now bears her name,” says Gudrun Kadereit.

Princess Therese of Bavaria was a scientist and explored anthropological and zoological phenomena during her travels in Europe and (South) America. In addition, she was committed to the education of women. She was elected by the Bavarian Academy of Sciences in 1892 as its first honorary female member and five years later became the first woman to receive an honorary doctorate from the LMU Faculty of Philosophy.

“It is very fitting that Princess Therese of Bavaria is the first female scientist to receive the honor of being the namesake of a chair at LMU. I am particularly pleased that the first holder, Professor Gudrun Kadereit, and her students will devote part of their work to scientifically analyzing the botanical treasures collected by Princess Therese of Bavaria,” says Dr. Margit Weber, who first proposed the naming as LMU’s Women’s Representative and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Prinzessin Therese von Bayern (Princess Therese of Bavaria) Foundation for the Promotion of Women in Science at LMU.