Mourning the death of Jimmy Carter: in 2007, the former US president visited Leuphana

‘Tonight I stand here filled with gratitude, excitement and admiration for what has been achieved here at Leuphana in the last few months: in my opinion, completely reinventing a university in this way will have a profound long-term impact on the entire education system in Germany and Europe. I believe that this unique experiment is destined to be a sweeping success. Therefore, I congratulate all of you who are studying here: the beginning of your studies here in this special programme is a moment of historic significance,’ said Jimmy Carter in his speech at the opening of Leuphana College.

He awarded the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Foundation prizes in Germany for the first time. An initiative by Lüneburg students was among the prize winners: the organisers of the ‘lunatic’ festival, whose proceeds go to a development aid project, were awarded second prize.

Jimmy Carter was a mediator for peace and democracy. He was in office from 1977 to 1981. After his presidency, he founded the Carter Center. The non-profit organisation is committed to human rights and improving health care worldwide. In 2002, Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize ‘for his decades of tireless efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to promote democracy and human rights, and to advance economic and social development’.

Leuphana often took up Jimmy Carter's innovative approaches in energy and environmental policy and social learning. For example, student initiatives or urban partner projects use Jimmy Carter's projects as models and address his humanitarian work in educational programmes.

Jimmy Carter passed away on 29 December 2024.

The former US presidents still living, along with Joe Biden and Donald Trump, paid their respects in Washington. After the state funeral, the coffin was flown back to Carter's home state of Georgia. The funeral will take place later in the private circle in his hometown of Plains.