Ursula Koch

Ursula Koch
Ursula Koch (before 1999)
Born	(1941-07-01) 1 July 1941 (age 75) Zürich
Nationality	Swiss
Other names	Ursula Koch-Pomeranz
Education	Ph.D. in organic chemistry
Alma mater	University of Zürich
Occupation	Former Swiss politician,
Years active	1979–2000
Known for	Zürich ist gebaut!

Ursula Koch (1 July 1941 in Zürich, citizen of Zürich) is a former Swiss politician, and was the first women president of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SP).

Born and raised in Zürich, Ursula Koch attended Sekundarschule in the municipality of Stäfa on Zürichsee lake shore. Thereafter she worked as a domestic helper in Lausanne, the so-called Welschlandjahr which at that time usually teenage women absolved in western Switzerland (Welschland) to improve the knowledge of the French language. She graduated at the teacher training college in Zürich, and absolved in 1962 an exchange year at the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon. In 1963 Ursula Koch started to study natural sciences at the University of Zürich and graduated at the Institute of Organic Chemistry, where she worked as a research assistant from 1970 to 1976. Ursula Koch promoted as Dr. phil. II in 1976.

As member of the Cantonal Council (Kantonsrat), the legislative assembly of the canton of Zürich, for the SP of the canton of Zürich, Ursula Koch refused, as dedicated woman's politician, the traditional male-oriented oath to the Vaterland and instead pledged allegiance on the Mutterland of office in 1979, but was re-elected until 1986.

Beginning in 1986, Ursula Koch was voted as member of the Zürich City Councillor (Stadtrat), the executive board of the city of Zürich. She acted as superintendent of the engineering department (Bauamt II or Hochbaudepartment), i.e. Ursula Koch was responsible for all building construction works in Zürich until 1998. Ursula Koch opposed intensively the opening of the former industrial zones for the construction of more commerce buildings, in favor of more accommodation buildings at moderate prizes; therefore her statement "City (of Zürich) is built" (in Swiss-German: Die Stadt ist gebaut!) on 16 March 1988 to the members of the SIA association, the parent organization of Swiss engineers and architects, became her best-known saying.

At the 1999 national Council elections, Ursula Koch reached with 122,846 votes the second best result in Switzerland. Despite the top result, the inner-party disputes not declined. As Nationalrätin for the SP party, Ursula Koch was voted by the citizens of the canton Zürich as member of the Nationalrat, the Swiss lower parliament's house, from 6 December 1999 to 10 May 2000, when she resigned for reasons of health.