The main focus of the event was the extraordinary breadth of von Hagen’s activities in research and at institutions: He has combined research, policy consulting and university development in a career spanning several decades. As a researcher, he has enjoyed and continues to enjoy strong international links, including working as a consultant for institutions including the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He also helped to shape the destiny of the University of Bonn in a number of key senior roles, serving as Vice Rector for Research and Early-Career Researchers from 2009 to 2015 and Dean of the Faculty of Law and Economics from 2018 to 2024.
In his welcome address, Rector Professor Michael Hoch highlighted von Hagen’s longstanding association with the University of Bonn, reserving special praise for his efforts to further the development of its research structures—efforts that would also go on to help it achieve success in the Excellence Strategy. The current Dean of the Faculty of Law and Economics, Professor Martin Böse, likewise thanked von Hagen for his commitment and dedication and the cordial working relationship that the two former colleagues have enjoyed.
The academic part of the symposium addressed some of the central themes of von Hagen’s research, with two policy panels assembled to look at monetary policy in the digital age and questions of European governance and geopolitics. Guests included Christopher Waller from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, David Altig from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Rolf Strauch from the European Stability Mechanism and Guntram Wolff from the Université Libre de Bruxelles. Colleagues and former doctoral students also paid their own tributes, acknowledging von Hagen’s role as an academic teacher and mentor. Many of these stressed how much his academic rigor, generosity and international mindset had shaped the careers of a whole generation of economists.