Two new professors at the University

Martin-Pizarro will conduct research and offer classes in Freiburg
Karlheinz Ruhstorfer was named professor for Dogmatic Theology in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Freiburg on April 1, 2017. His research centers around the dynamics of European philosophical and theological history. Ruhstorfer is mapping out the impetus for the Christian Holy Scriptures. His specific focus is on Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, but also on the theological philosophy of German idealism. In addition, Ruhstorfer is examining the historical effect that fundamental Christian thought had on Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche and Martin Heidegger as well as on Michel Foucault, Jaques Derrida and Jean-Luc Marion. His objective is to make a broadened concept of tradition more fruitful for constructing new dogmatic theory. Ruhstorfer's additional research areas include the relationship between culture and Christianity, the occident and Islam as well as interfaith theology. He intends to make a theological contribution to help analyze the spiritual situation in Europe in a globalized 21st century world and to strengthen an open, democratic principle-oriented society in the face of backward-facing tendencies.

Ruhstorfer studied German, Philosophy and Catholic Theology at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, the University of Freiburg and the University of Osnabrück. In 1997 he got his PhD in Theology in Freiburg. In 2003 he completed his post-doctoral qualification. From 2006 to 2013 he was professor for Systematic Theology at the University of Koblenz-Landau and represented this field from 2013 till 2017 at the Technical University Dresden. Ruhstorfer has been chairman of the German section of the European Society for Catholic Theology since 2015.

Amador Martin-Pizarro was named professor for Mathematical Logic in the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Freiburg since April 1, 2017. His research specialty is model theory, which involves the characteristics of mathematical structures that can be expressed in formal languages. Formal languages can be used in informatics, for instance, in order to regulate machines. Over the past few years Martin-Pizarro has taken a particular interest in geometric model theory whose goal is to define algebraic structures from so-called incidence configurations. Incidence geometry is the simplest ratio that can arise between geometric objects such as points, straight lines and planes. Using his research based on model theory, Martin-Pizarro is developing a deeper understanding about the theory itself as well as its possible applications in other areas of pure mathematics such as algebraic geometry or the theory of numbers.

Martin-Pizarro studied Mathematics at the Universidad Autónoma in Madrid, Spain. In 2003 he got his PhD from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA. After his research work at the Humboldt University of Berlin, Cambridge University in Great Britain and the University of Lyon in France, he was appointed researcher in 2007 at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique in Paris, France.

Contact:
Karlheinz Ruhstorfer
Department of Systematic Theology
University of Freiburg
Tel.: 0761/203-2053
E-Mail: karlheinz.ruhstorfer@theol.uni-freiburg.de

Amador Martin-Pizarro
Department of Mathematics
University of Freiburg
Tel.: 0761/203-5603
E-Mail: pizarro@math.uni-freiburg.de