Education Pioneer in the Digital Transformation Metamorphoses of the SSAB

Abstract

More than two years have now passed since we had to bid farewell to Verena Doelker-Tobler at an impressive memorial service in Höngg church on 12 July 2018. My contribution was to pay tribute to her work for the Swiss Foundation for Audiovisual Education (SSAB). At the end of my words at the time, I pointed out that Verena would be very pleased if she could see how what she had initiated with her great commitment to the SSAB had been able to develop further in the meantime. The following review will trace the history of the SSAB, including the events since this memorial service.
Verena Doelker-Tobler devoted a great deal of creative energy to the SSAB in her final years as head of the »Family and Education” department at the former DRS television station and then in the years that followed until her death in summer 2018. The rich history of the foundation, which was established on her initiative, is testament to her pioneering spirit, courage and perseverance, as well as her great flexibility. This enabled her to constantly adapt the SSAB‘s activities to new circumstances.
It was in the late summer of 2005 that Verena Doelker-Tobler asked me if I could take over the chairmanship of the SSAB. I had just stepped down as Vice-Chancellor in order to devote the remaining two and a half years before my retirement as Special Representative for International Affairs to the SSAB.