The Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen was directly involved in the founding of the Vienna Science Ball. As the University Commissioner of the City of Vienna, he supported the establishment of the event in 2014 together with Mayor Michael Häupl and City Councillor for Science Andreas Maillath-Pokorny. The first ball was held in the City Hall in 2015. Then as now, the motto is: “Fun with decency – dance with attitude”. Here is his ball message (in German) for the 2025 anniversary ball: