New Co-Head appointed at the ZHAW Institute for Facility Management
Prof. Dr. Isabelle Wrase and Michael Kauer will jointly head the Institute of Facility Management at the ZHAW in Wädenswil from 1 July 2024, assuming responsibility for a team of around 50 people. They will take over from Irene Arnold, who has headed the institute on an interim basis since November 2023.
Isabelle Wrase is Professor of Real Estate and Facility Management and the current course director of the MSc in Real Estate & Facility Management. Michael Kauer is the current Head of Continuing Education in Real Estate and Facility Management and also plays a leading role in the MAS in Sustainable Construction. Both have been working at the ZHAW for four years. Together, they want to position the Institute of Facility Management as a leading authority for life-long learning, research & development and services in sustainable real estate and facility management.
The Institute of Facility Management is a hub with expertise in all areas relating to the life cycle of real estate and facility services. It offers researchers from the fields of "Workplace Management", "FM in Healthcare", "Sustainability in Real Estate and Facility Management" and "Real Estate and Facility Management" an interdisciplinary digital home. The Swiss Society for Sustainable Real Estate Management (SGNI) is closely associated with the institute. Next year, the institute will celebrate 25 years of FM Academia in Switzerland.
Michael Kauer has a degree in Hospitality & Tourism Management as well as an MBA and a Master's degree in Innovation Management. He has many years of international management experience in the hotel industry, consulting and teaching at universities. He currently teaches real estate valuation and business model development in continuing education, on the Master's and Bachelor's degree courses. He is also active as Chairman of the Board of Directors of a real estate company, as a guest lecturer in the field of tourist accommodation and regularly organizes wine seminars and tastings as a wine scout.
Isabelle Wrase holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Zurich. She was head of real estate and facility management at more than 150 locations worldwide for a Swiss pharmaceutical and chemical company. Today, she researches and teaches in particular on the state of higher education in real estate and facility management, sustainability in public organizations and corporate real estate management as well as on transformation processes of the built environment. Isabelle Wrase is Co-President of IFMA (Switzerland Chapter), RICS Fellow and also holds a position on a supervisory board.
"I am very pleased about this new dual leadership at the IFM and am convinced that the new co-management will continue to lead the institute in an excellent and forward-looking manner," explains Prof. Dr. Urs Hilber, Director of the Department of Life Sciences and Facility Management in Wädenswil.
Source: www.zhaw.ch
