Company: Leopold Museum Private Foundation
Position: Member of the Board of Directors
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In May of this year, State Secretary for Art and Culture Andrea Mayer sent the science manager and expert from the education sector, Sonja Hammerschmid, to the board of the Leopold Museum Private Foundation. The former Federal Minister for Education and Women now controls the fate of the renowned museum alongside the chairman Josef Ostermayer and the board members Elisabeth Leopold, Agnes Husslein-Arco and Carl Aigner. With her appointment, the city councilor for art and culture aimed not least to pay special attention to the museum as an educational institution and the importance of art communication to different target and age groups. Together with the director of the Leopold Museum, Hans-Peter Wipplinger, Sonja Hammerschmid directs the implementation of innovative strategies, especially with regard to the central museum tasks of research and inclusion in the context of new art education formats.
Born in 1968 in Steyr, Upper Austria, Sonja Hammerschmid studied genetics and tumor biology as part of her degree in biology at the University of Vienna from 1986 and received her doctorate in natural sciences in 1995. During her studies, she was already a research assistant at Boehringer Ingelheim Austria, her professional career led her from the Vienna BioCenter to the laboratory outfitter Margaritella Biotrade, to the innovation agency, within which she started the biotech impulse program (later LISA – Life Science Austria) of Austria from 1999 Economic service headed. As managing director of the ARGE Life Science Vienna Region and the ARGE Impulsprogramm Creativwirtschaft, she was involved in the development of innovative business areas such as life sciences and creative industries and developed the funding program for film productions at Filmstandort Austria.
Before her political activities as Federal Minister for Education and Women or Federal Minister for Education and later as a member of the National Council and education spokesperson, Sonja Hammerschmid was the rector of the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna from 2010 to 2016. At the end of 2015, she was appointed President of the Austrian University Conference, the first woman to head the Association for the Promotion of Science, which has existed for 110 years.
As part of her parliamentary work, Sonja Hammerschmid acted as a member of numerous committees of the National Council, among others on the topics of budget, culture, science and finance as well as in the committee for research, innovation and digitization. In 2012, the art and culture expert was appointed President of the Supervisory Board of Kunsthallen GmbH, a position she held until 2016.
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