Alumni giving back

University benefactor Roland Lacher

“There is no greater thing than to invest in young people”

06. Jul 2018 |

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TUM Alumnus Roland Lacher in a lecture hall at TUM main campus in Munich (photo: Eckert/TUM).

Roland Lacher founded his own company at the age of 53 together with a colleague and financial investor and was thus one of the first stars on the New Market. He managed his company with passion and today he supports young talents from TUM with a passion.

After gaining a great deal of experience as a manager in well-known companies, Roland Lacher founded his own company. At that time, in 1995, he was supposed to sell a part of Hanauer Leybold AG that he had previously managed and helped to achieve considerable growth. The graduate engineer bought the division himself with the support of financial investors and founded Singulus Technologies GmbH, from which Singulus Technologies AG emerged two years later. The company soon became the world market leader in production systems for optical storage media, i.e. machines for CD and DVD production, and now has a turnover of over 90 million euros.

INTEGRITY AND STRONG LEADERSHIP

Singulus Technologies AG was the twelfth company to be listed on the New Market on the German Stock Exchange in Frankfurt. And while many companies did not survive the stock market crash of 2001, Roland Lacher, as CEO, steered the company unerringly through the crisis. For Roland Lacher, creativity, expertise, personal integrity and leadership are among the most important factors of success. He himself likes responsibility and the pressure of decision-making, and he appreciates being able to decide on the conceptual direction his company takes.

My studies at TUM laid the essential foundations upon which my success in my professional activities is built.
Roland Lacher
„

Roland Lacher enjoys passing on this passion for managing companies, as well as a passion for everything you undertake as such, to the next generation with pleasure. That is another reason why it was so important to him to be one of the co-founders of the TUM University Foundation, thereby paving the way for the varied promotion of younger generations. Together with his wife, Uta Lacher, he has set up a fund under the umbrella of the TUM University Foundation to support outstandingly qualified students and young scientists.

Picture: Eckert/TUM

Roland and Uta Lacher, both TUM honorary senators.

DONATIONS AS INVESTMENTS IN THE FUTURE

“Our country needs the best minds in science and technology in order to continue to be successful internationally in the future. For example, how does industry intend to master the digital challenge of Industry 4.0, if not with young graduates from excellent universities such as TUM?” the entrepreneur asks.

Picture: Astrid Eckert/TUM

TUM alumnus Roland Lacher with the recipients of the German scholarship at the Oskar von Miller Forum.

“With our donations, we want to promote TUM both in its mission to provide academic education for young students and scientists and in its striving for excellence. Because my studies at TUM laid the essential foundations upon which my success in my professional activities is built.” For example, the Roland and Uta Laughing Fund supports the TUM:Junge Akademie and the international postdoctoral program of TUM. In addition, several Deutschlandstipendien (German scholarships) have been financed to date, supporting talented students from all over the world who are studying in Germany. “There is no greater thing than to invest in young people,” says Roland Lacher. “There is no better goal than to develop the spiritual potential for the future of our country.”

Roland Lacher

Degree in Mechanical Engineering 1968

Roland Lacher studied Mechanical Engineering at TUM. After working for other companies, he founded Singulus Technologies and developed it into the world market leader for machines for the production of CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays. The opera lover is the founder of the TUM University Foundation and, together with his wife, Uta Lacher, has donated a seven-figure sum.

The Roland and Uta Laughing Fund supports young TUM researchers – to date, the Fund has supported 65 German scholars and awarded 7 postdoctoral fellowships. In October 2016, Roland and Uta Lacher were appointed as honorary senators of TUM for their continued patronage.

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