Rainer Borer will be the new head of Corporate Communication
As of October 1, 2015, Rainer Borer will be the new head of Corporate Communication of ETH Zurich. At the age of 52, he will join ETH after leaving the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) where he was responsible for strategic communication. Before joining FINMA he headed for eight years the economy editorial staff of Swiss public radio SRF.
The Executive Board of ETH Zurich has selected Rainer Borer as the new head of ETH’s Corporate Communication. Rainer Borer obtained a degree in History and German from the University of Basel (lic. phil. I, 1990) and a degree in business administration from the University of St. Gallen (Executive MBA, 2008). He will start his new position at ETH on October 1, 2015.
Developing Strategic Communication for FINMA
Since 2011 Rainer Borer was responsible for defining the strategic communication of FINMA. Under his leadership FINMA developed a new approach for the internal communication, set an emphasis on the relations with the Federal Parliament and published a new FINMA communication policy paper. His most recent assignment was to create a new website and Internet strategy for FINMA.
Broad Experience in Journalism
Before joining FINMA, Rainer Borer held several positions mostly in public media corporations. Between 2003 and 2011 he headed the editorial staff that reported on economy in the Swiss public radio SRF. Prior to that, also in SRF, he led or participated in several innovation projects, for instance the creation of the new continuous news-feed channel SRF4 News. Between 1997 and 2003 he was a news editor working for the Swiss radio SRF in the economy newsroom reporting particularly on sectors such as pharma, finance, and airline business. Overall he has almost 30 years of experience in journalism, a career that he started working for local newspapers and regional radio programs in Basel.
New Ideas for Media Convergence
During his MBA program at the university of St. Gallen, Rainer Borer developed novel approaches how to use the manifold opportunities offered by the digitalization of the media and the corresponding organizations. This work formed the basis on which he advised the SRG executive board when it created new structures leading to convergent news channels.
Reinforcing Strengths and Developing New Ideas
After being chosen Rainer Borer expressed his feelings as follows: “It is a great honor to be given the responsibility for the corporate communication for such a prestigious university.” Questioned about his future priorities he said: “Building upon the existing strengths it will be important to optimize the existing channels to establish an intensive communication with all relevant stake holders in society, politics, and media”. At the same time he stressed, that it is important “to be agile, to analyze the rapidly changing communications landscape and to take the steps that are necessary.”
Strengthening the Perception of ETH
The president of ETH Lino Guzzella is extremely happy to have Rainer Borer as the new head of Corporate Communication: “Rainer Borer is a very experienced journalist with a broad background in corporate communication and public affairs. I’m convinced that he and his team will strengthen ETH’s image in the public perception as one of the best technical universities.”