Benefactors
Curt und Heidemarie Engelhorn
The two paramount patrons of American Studies at Heidelberg University, Honorary Senators Curt and Heidemarie Engelhorn, have supported the HCA from the very beginning. In 2006, they acquired the Curt and Heidemarie Engelhorn Palais in the heart of Heidelberg’s Old Town, renovated it, and made it available to the HCA rent-free. In addition, they supported the center from 2008 to 2020 with an annual sum of 400,000 Euros. After Curt Engelhorn’s death in 2016, Heidemarie Engelhorn has continued the joint commitment and extended the rent-free use of the Curt and Heidemarie Engelhorn Palais until 2036.
Schurman Foundation
The Schurman Foundation, with Dr. Thomas Peuntner as Chairman and Hans-Hasso Kersten as Vice Chairman, has supported the HCA since its foundation. It is currently providing the prize money for the Rolf Kentner Dissertation Prize, scholarships for PhD and MA students, and funding for the HCA podcast.
BASF
The Ludwigshafen-based company provided scholarships for the HCA PhD program from 2006-21. It was also the main sponsor of the conference “Lost in Diversity: A Transatlantic Dialogue on the Social Relevance of Jazz” (2012).
Elfie And Ray Carrell
In 2007, Ray and Elfi Carrell set up an endowment fund to support degree programs at selected German and American universities. Students of the MA in American Studies at the HCA also benefit from this fund. Ray Carrell is a member of the HCA Board of Trustees.
John Deere Company
The global leader in the production of agricultural, construction, and forestry equipment has generously supported the annual HCA Spring Academy since 2005.
Deutsche Bank AG
From 2007 to 2009, Deutsche Bank AG supported German-American scholarly exchange by funding the Deutsche Bank Junior Fellowship at the HCA.
Dr. med. Andreas Dienerowitz
Since 2018, Andreas Dienerowitz has been promoting research and teaching on transatlantic relations through the Andreas Dienerowitz International Fellowship for Master students at the HCA.
Friends of the Heidelberg Center for American Studies
The New York-based foundation, a tax-exempt non-profit organization, has supported the HCA since its foundation.
Herbert A. Jung
The Heidelberg painter and object artist has been supporting the center’s research and teaching activities since 2007.
Rolf Kentner (1947-2020)
In 2009, the honorary senator of Ruperto Carola endowed a dissertation prize which honors excellent work in American Studies submitted to a German university. After his retirement as chairman of the Schurman Foundation, the foundation appointed him as its Honorary Chairman and decided to continue awarding the Rolf Kentner Dissertation Prize in his name as a lasting tribute to his work. The prize has been supported by the Schurman Foundation since 2019.
Manfred Lautenschläger Foundation
Dr. h.c. Manfred Lautenschläger, an honorary senator of the Ruperto Carola, has actively supported the HCA from the very beginning, not least by providing an office floor in Heidelberg’s Weststadt district rent-free in the early years of the institute. Since 2006, he has financed a series of international conferences at the HCA, including the 55th annual conference of the German Association for American Studies (DGfA) in 2008. In 2011, thanks to a generous donation from the Manfred Lautenschläger Foundation, the HCA and the Faculty of Theology were able to establish the James W.C. Pennington Award, which is particularly important for the academic reputation of the HCA. Manfred Lautenschläger was a member of the Board of Trustees for twenty years. He was succeeded by his son Markus Lautenschläger in 2024.
MLP
In 2008, MLP generously supported the University of Heidelberg and the HCA in organizing the annual conference of the German Association for American Studies (DGfA) on the topic of “The American Presidency.”
Dr. Hans-Peter Wild und die Leonie Wild Stiftung
Dr. Hans-Peter Wild and the Leonie Wild Foundation supported students of the HCA Master’s program for many years. Dr. Wild was chairman of the HCA Board of Trustees from 2006 to 2018.