Saxer was born on January 6, 1931 in Küsnacht ZH. He died unexpectedly on a trip to Munich, as various media reported on Wednesday. According to the obituary, the funeral will take place in a close family circle. A memorial service will be held on June 22 at 2.30 p.m. in Zurich's Wasserkirche church.

Saxer completed his habilitation at the University of Zurich in 1970. He had studied law, German and English here and in Great Britain and obtained his doctorate in 1957 with a thesis on Gottfried Keller. In 1973, he was appointed assistant professor of journalism with a focus on the sociology of art at the University of Zurich, as the university writes on its website.
 
From 1975 until his retirement in 1996, he was head of the Department of Journalism. From 1977 as an associate professor, from 1983 as a full professor. He developed it into an "open-minded teaching and research institution for journalism studies", writes the university. Countless journalists completed their academic training there.

Local radio experiments accompanied
Saxer also played an important role in media policy. At the end of the 1970s, he was a member of the federal expert commission for an overall media concept. In the 1980s, when the monopoly of "Swiss radio" was crumbling, he led the accompanying research into the local radio trials, among other things.

After his retirement, he established the Institute of Media Studies at the University of Italian-speaking Switzerland. He was also appointed honorary professor at the University of Vienna, where he held seminars until the end.

A few weeks ago, Saxer completed his most comprehensive academic work to date. It will be published in the summer, as the research and consulting company Publicom writes on the death of its honorary and former long-standing Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Saxer established the Ulrich Saxer Foundation in 2000. Its aim is to promote young talent in journalism and communication studies. (sda)