ETH Zurich was not Jeannine's first choice for a place of study, but she made the switch because she was looking for more opportunities to apply her creative side. “At ETH, you learn that it is entirely up to you what you want to make out of your university experience. ETH gives you a lot of freedom in how you can achieve your goals.”

This was exactly the foundation she needed, as it gave her the freedom to develop both her skills and personality. "We are not machines. Students are all individuals, and they need the liberty to find which way they want to go," says Jeannine.

In the first episode of our alumni podcast series "We are ETH", Susan meets Jeannine Pilloud, the CEO of Ascom Holding AG. You can read Jeannine's ETH Circle portrait here: https://circle.ethz.ch/member/jeannine-pilloud/.

Listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich, Ascom is a global telecommunications company focusing on wireless on-site communications. Jeannine is its CEO since 2019. Previously, she notably held positions at IBM and SBB, the Swiss Federal Railways. After first studying German, history, and journalism at the University of Zurich, she went on to complete a degree in architecture at ETH Zurich. She was recently appointed to the Board of the ETH Alumni Association. This is her story.

Please find more information on the ETH Circle network here.

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