Logistics Symposium in Honor of Prof. Dr. Rainer Lasch's Retirement

Prof. Dr. Rainer Lasch will retire on October 1, 2026. To mark the occasion, a festive logistics symposium was held on June 26, 2026, in the faculty’s banquet hall. Together with longtime colleagues from the logistics community, the Chair’s team, numerous former staff members, colleagues from the faculty, and family members, his lifetime achievements were honored and Prof. Lasch was officially bid farewell by the Chair.

Since 1997—first as Deputy Head of Chair and then as holder of the then-newly established Chair of Business Administration, esp. Logistics—Rainer Lasch shaped the field of logistics at TU Dresden and beyond for nearly three decades. During this time, he published more than 160 peer-reviewed articles in renowned international journals, including the European Journal of Operational Research, the International Journal of Logistics Management, and the International Journal of Production Economics. In addition, he authored five standard textbooks—several of which have been reprinted—covering topics such as procurement planning, distribution logistics, and supply chain management; served as editor for 32 publications; and successfully secured numerous external grants.

Procurement management became one of his primary areas of academic focus. For more than 20 years, Rainer Lasch served as a member of the BME’s Scientific Advisory Board and, in this capacity, was responsible for the annual anthology “Supply Management Research.” He was also actively involved in the VHB’s Scientific Commission on Logistics for many years—including a period as its chair.

Teaching was always a labor of love for him. His courses were extremely popular and inspired generations of students. He also made significant contributions to the expansion of the dual-degree program between the University of Trento and TU Dresden. At Dresden International University (DIU), he served for over 20 years as Scientific Director of the “Logistics Management” MBA degree program.

Equally important to him was the promotion of early-career researchers. With great dedication, he shaped his Chair into a high-performing and closely knit team and guided numerous academic careers. This is reflected not least in the 19 first-round reviews he conducted for doctoral dissertations.

Rainer Lasch also took on responsibilities in academic self-governance. After a three-year term as Vice-Dean, he served as Dean of Studies for the Industrial Engineering and Management degree program for 20 years and was a member of the Dean’s Council for a total of 23 years.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to Rainer Lasch for his many years of dedicated service. As he embarks on this new chapter of his life, we wish him good health, joy, many enriching experiences, and above all, the time to enjoy all the things for which there was often too little room in the daily routine of university life.