Brain City Ambassador Prof. Dr. Anna Klippstein

©Stefanie Zwisler

28.09.2020
Prof. Dr. Anna Klippstein, Touro College Berlin

Brain City Berlin

Brain City Berlin Ambassador Dr Anna Klippstein researches and teaches as a Professor of Finance at Touro College Berlin. The native Russian has been living in her new adopted home for ten years now. She is currently working on the effects of the digital transformation on the economy and society.

“As I see it, Berlin lives and breathes from science. The companies here benefit from the proximity to the many top-class scientific institutions in the city. That’s why Berlin’s innovative start-up scene comes in first in the German ranking,” Brain City Ambassador Professor Dr Anna Klippstein says. After earning her doctorate at the State University of St. Petersburg, she worked in the world of international finance. She has lived in Berlin since 2010 and does research and teaches as a Professor of Finance at Touro College Berlin. Anna Klippstein now calls the Brain City Berlin her “adopted home.” “The decision to settle in Berlin was a unanimous one for my family. At the time, I was still working in banking. Coming to Berlin, with its many universities, practically predestined my move to academia.”

Anna Klippstein can now combine her many years of experience in banking with her work at the university. “It is a tremendous help in preparing new investment courses and in teaching the material. My experience in active bank management has also proved very valuable during my time as dean for the undergraduate and MBA programmes at Touro College” between 2015 and 2017.

Berlin constantly offers new inspiration, new ideas, new encounters: this is ideal for researchers!

As a Professor of Finance and Management, Anna Klippstein is now also at home in the capital’s economic landscape. “I advise local companies and take my students on visits to particularly innovative companies that are either using creative management strategies or are focused on sustainability.” Her current research goes beyond the traditional confines of finance. She is investigating the digital transformation. “The digital transformation is our present and our future. The associated changes are affecting not only technology, but also the economic landscape,” she explains, adding: “New industries such as the fintech sector are emerging while others are becoming a part of the past. Company models and management strategies are changing while the international distribution of work and our social environment are being redefined. Investigating these processes and discussing with students how society and companies can adapt to changes and benefit from them is very important to me.”

Touro College Berlin has a strong international orientation. Anna Klippstein regularly goes to see St Petersburg as a visiting professor. “The academic exchange between German and Russian university cities has a long tradition,” she says. “When the State University of St. Petersburg was founded in the 18th century, Czar Peter the Great invited advisers from Germany. Since then, both countries have been very closely connected academically.”

And what does Anna Klippstein particularly appreciate about Brain City Berlin? “So many discussions, conferences, and workshops take place here. Berlin constantly offers new inspiration, new ideas, new encounters: this is ideal for researchers!” Anna Klippstein is also enthusiastic about the capital’s lively cultural scene with its many museums, galleries, theatres, and opera houses; this also reminds her of her hometown St. Petersburg. And there is another point that speaks very clearly in favour of her new adopted home: “Berlin is very international. One rarely meets prejudices here and you feel part of a global community. I love and appreciate this freedom!”