In 1895 Hilbert became Chairman of Mathematics at the University of Göttingen, at that time the best research center for mathematics in the world. He remained for the rest of his life. Among his students were: Hermann Weyl, the champion of chess Emanuel Lasker, Ernst Zermelo, and Carl Gustav Hempel. John von Neumann was his assistant. At the University of Göttingen, Hilbert was surrounded by a social circle of some of the most important mathematicians of the 20th century, such as Emmy Noether and Alonzo Church.