Award Great University Medal for Dorothee Supp
12 March 2026
Heidelberg alumna supports academic projects that contribute to intercultural understanding through her foundation
In recognition of her many years of personal and financial commitment to Ruperto Carola’s Faculty of Philosophy, Dr Dorothee Supp has been awarded the Great University Medal. She established the Geschwister Supp Foundation alongside her brother Dr Martin Supp, who passed away in 2012. The foundation supports academic projects at Heidelberg University, particularly doctoral projects that contribute to intercultural understanding in a globalized world. These include, for example, research on dialogue between European and non-European cultures. Rector Prof. Dr Frauke Melchior presented the award on 10 March 2026 at a small ceremony.
“The Geschwister Supp Foundation is not only an important source of financial support. It also reflects the conviction that scholarly insight and cultural understanding are fundamental prerequisites for peaceful coexistence. That is something Heidelberg University also stands for: scholarship as a space for encounter, exchange and mutual understanding,” Prof. Melchior said at the presentation of the University Medal. Prof. Dr Hans Martin Krämer, Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, and Prof. Dr Stefan Maul, Senior Professor in the Department of Languages and Cultures of the Near East at Ruperto Carola and long-serving Chair of the Foundation Council, paid tribute to Dr Supp’s outstanding commitment. The honoree took the opportunity to express her gratitude for the award, as well as her hope that the foundation will continue to develop successfully in the future.
Dorothee Supp studied at Heidelberg University, where she also completed her doctorate. She then worked for several decades as a secondary-school teacher of English and French. After she retired, she and her brother Martin Supp, a fellow alumnus of Ruperto Carola, provided the initial endowment for the non-profit Geschwister Supp Foundation in 2005. Since then, income from the foundation has funded two doctoral scholarships every year, each awarded for a period of two years, primarily in the cultural studies disciplines of the Faculty of Philosophy. In addition, it supports postdoctoral projects, lecture series and visiting professorships at Heidelberg University. Dr Supp served on the Foundation Board until the end of last year.