In memory of Professor Josef Reiter, President of the KAAD from 2003 to 2011

From 2003 to 2011, he served as president of KAAD and guided the scholarship organization through a period of growing international cooperation and global church networking.

Josef Reiter was born on May 11, 1937, in Heiligenkreuz (now Chodský Újezd, Czech Republic). He studied philosophy, Catholic theology, history, and psychology in Fulda, Munich, and Paris. In 1965, he earned his doctorate from the University of Munich with a dissertation on Jacques Maritain, and in 1971, he qualified as a professor with a study on Nicolas Malebranche. From 1974, he taught as a professor of philosophy at the University of Regensburg before taking over the Chair of Philosophy at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in 1985. From 1991 to 2001, he served as president of the University of Mainz, where he played a key role in reforms and the internationalization of the university. 

As President of the KAAD, Josef Reiter succeeded Prof. em. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Peter Hünermann. He continued the KAAD’s collaboration with its international partner organizations and local churches and supported the scholarship program’s global orientation during a phase of increasing international networking. International academic exchange and the support of foreign students were of particular importance to him. In a congratulatory letter on his 70th birthday, Cardinal Karl Lehmann praised the “good and constructive cooperation in many areas” and described KAAD as an important instrument of the Church’s work in education and development policy.

Josef Reiter was actively involved in a wide range of academic and self-governing activities. International research stays and collaborations took him to France, Italy, Croatia, and Colombia, among other places. Among the honors for his scholarly and academic work are the French distinction of “Officier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques” in 1995, the Leibniz Medal from the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz in 2000, an honorary doctorate from the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla (Colombia), and the Ring of Honor from the City of Mainz. In 2002, Josef Reiter was awarded the Order of Merit of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate, and in 2011 he received the Bonifatius Medal from the German Bishops’ Conference. Since 2016, he had been a full member of the Humanities Class of the Sudeten German Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Even after his presidency ended, Josef Reiter remained closely connected to the KAAD. Long after his active term, he continued to participate in its events and gatherings and was particularly attached to the KAAD’s annual academies, which he regularly attended and closely followed for many years.

It is with gratitude that the KAAD bids farewell to a longtime companion and friend. May he rest in peace.