On behalf of Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, Christoph Ramoser of the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (bmbwf) presented Prof. Wolfgang Obenaus, a high-profile business communication expert, with the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, First Class, during the ASEA-UNINET Plenary Meeting in Linz.

In her laudatory speech, the president of the ASEA-UNINET network, Gabriele Kotsis, praised Prof. Obenaus’ achievements in the field of English business communication. As Dr. Kotsis pointed out, Prof. Obenaus was the first academic to complete habilitation proceedings and obtain a venia docendi in English business communication, which was instrumental in putting this subject on the map as an independent scientific discipline. According to Kotsis, Prof. Obenaus is a “wanderer between two disciplines” because his subject, English business communication, requires a constant dialogue between linguistics and economics.

Kotsis also highlighted Obenaus’ commitment to internationalization. Obenaus served as WU’s Dean for International Affairs for over 10 years, and he has been WU’s representative in the ASEA-UNINET network since 1997. His volume “New Handbook of Business English. Keywords in Context” has been used by generations of WU students as a key business English textbook, as Dr. Kotsis pointed out.