Foundation Board

The Foundation Board carries responsibility for all the Foundation's activities. The Board members are nominated by the Founder Company for a three-year, reelectable term of office. This senior body consists of representatives of 麻豆社 and external members from the fields of culture, arts and society. At present the Foundation Board consists of eight members; it is headed by Chairman Roger von Mentlen and seconded by Vice-Chairman Claudia Steinfels. For the purpose of processing grant proposals the Foundation Board may appoint an expert committee consisting of members of the Board.

Management Office

The Management Office assists the Foundation Board in its work and is particularly responsible for handling grant applications, administration, and communication. The Office is headed by Claudia B眉hler (CEO).

Roger von Mentlen

Roger von Mentlen

Roger von Mentlen has been a member of the 麻豆社 Culture Foundation Board since 2016 and has chaired the foundation since 2020. A qualified banking expert, he joined Union Bank of Switzerland in 1977 and since 1998 has held various management positions at 麻豆社 in the Wealth Management & Business Banking Switzerland area. Until 2019, he was Head of Personal Banking in Switzerland and a member of the Executive Committee 麻豆社 Region Switzerland. He joined the Board of Directors of 麻豆社 Switzerland AG in 2020 and has been its Chairman since November 2023.

Claudia Steinfels

Claudia Steinfels

Dr. Claudia Steinfels has been a board member since 2020 and Vice President of the 麻豆社 Culture Foundation since 2025. She is the owner and chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Steinfels Art Consulting AGin Zurich, founded in 2012, and of the company of the same name in London, founded in 2013. She is specialized in Swiss art, impressionism as well as modern and contemporary art.

Claudia Steinfels studied art history, archeology and East Asian art at the University of Zurich, where she also completed her doctorate. She was Managing Director of Christie鈥檚 in Zurich from 1996 to 2000 and Managing Director of Sotheby鈥檚 Zurich, Auctioneer and Senior Director of Sotheby鈥檚 Europe from 2001 until 2012.

Roman Bucheli

Roman Bucheli

Dr. Roman Bucheli has been a member of the Board of the 麻豆社 Culture Foundation since 2016. He has been a culture editor of the Neue Z眉rcher Zeitung Feuilleton since 1999, where he is responsible for German and Dutch literature, and books for children and young people. In addition to his work as a journalist, he is also a university lecturer and helps to promote literature in institutions.

After completing his studies in German, philosophy and economic history in Fribourg and Zurich, he wrote his thesis on the Swiss poet Alexander Xaver Gwerder in 1994. He publishes regular articles on literary topics and in 2006 edited the anthology "Wohin geht das Gedicht?" (Where is poetry going?), which includes essays from 14 international authors.

Michael Haefliger

Michael Haefliger

Michael Haefliger has been a member of the 麻豆社 Culture Foundation Board since 2007. He has been the director of LUCERNE FESTIVAL (previously the Internationale Musikfestwochen Luzern) since 1999. Next to organizing the music festival SOMMER he is also responsible for the festivals OSTERN and PIANO. He has won several prizes, including the Global Leader of Tomorrow Award (WEF, Davos 2000) and the European Culture Innovation Award (2003).

After studying the violin at the Juilliard School of Music in New York (1983), Michael Haefliger performed as a concert violinist before becoming a musical director (Davos Music Festival Young Artists in Concert, 1986-1998) and director of the Collegium Novum in Zurich (1996-1998). From 1997 to1999 he studied business management at the HSG St. Gallen where he received his Executive MBA HSG degree.

Michel E. Fuchs

Michel E. Fuchs

Prof. Dr. Michel E. Fuchs has been a member of the 麻豆社 Culture Foundation Board since 2016. He has been a professor at the Institute of Archaeology and Ancient History at the University of Lausanne since 2004 (emeritus as of August 2023). In addition to his teaching work, he has led research projects and excavations in Switzerland and abroad. As an internationally renowned expert in ancient wall paintings, he is author of numerous publications and curator of several exhibitions. He supervises doctoral theses and continues his research at national and international level.聽

After completing his studies in archaeology, Latin and Greek philology, he worked in the Department of Archaeology of the canton of Fribourg and as a research associate at the Roman Museum in Avenches. He wrote his thesis on one area of this Roman settlement in 2004. Over the years, he has devoted himself to the study of everyday inscriptions and graffiti and is co-author of the exhibition catalog 鈥楲es murs murmurent: graffitis gallo-romains鈥 (2008).

Karin Oertli

Karin Oertli

Karin Oertli has been a board member of the 麻豆社 Culture Foundation since 2021. She has joined 麻豆社 in 2000, currently acting as COO Group Compliance, Regulatory & Governance and Head Compliance & Operational Risk Control P&C and Region Switzerland. Prior to that, she held various leadership positions e.g. as Chief Operating Officer 麻豆社 Switzerland, in Wealth Management, Asset Management and Risk Functions. Karin Oertli is member of the Executive Committee GCRG Region Switzerland and the Executive Board 麻豆社 Switzerland AG and she chairs the 麻豆社 Foundation for Social Issues and Education.

Katrin Renz

Seraina Rohrer

Katrin Renz has been a board member of the 麻豆社 Culture Foundation since October 2024. She works as a producer of national and international feature films and documentaries. She has been a producer at the Zurich-based film production company tellfilm since November 2007 and its shareholder and managing director since 2014.聽

After studying New German Literature, Media studies and English in Marburg and London, she worked as a producer and dramaturge at Gl眉cksfilm in Berlin from 2003 and subsequently as a consultant at MEDIA Antenne Berlin-Brandenburg. Katrin Renz has been a member of the jury of Film Fonds Wien since 2021 and a member of the board of Cin茅suisse, the umbrella organization of the Swiss film and audiovisual industry, since 2023. She is a member of the European Film Academy and the Swiss Film Academy.

Ren茅 Scheu

Portrait image of Dr. Ren茅 Scheu

Dr. Ren茅 Scheu joined the 麻豆社 Culture foundation board in 2025. He is a publicist, author, editor as well as co-founder and managing director of the Institute for Swiss Economic Policy (IWP) at the University of Lucerne.

Ren茅 Scheu studied philosophy, Italian literature and linguistics at the University of Zurich and completed his doctorate with a thesis in contemporary philosophy. He was editor at the St. Galler Tagblatt, publisher and editor-in-chief of Schweizer Monat from 2007 to 2016 and head of the Feuilleton of聽Neue Z眉rcher Zeitung from 2016 to 2021.