HRK Executive Board elections

6. November 2018

New and re-elected HRK-Vice-Presidents (from left to right): Prof. Dr. Monika Gross, Prof. Dr. Birgitta Wolff, Prof. Dr. Bernd Scholz-Reiter, Prof. Dr. Johanna Weber (Photo: Patrizia Jäger for Leuphana University Lüneburg)

The General Assembly of the German Rectors' Conference (HRK) has elected two new members to the HRK Executive Board:

Rector of the University of Bremen Professor Dr Ing. Bernd Scholz-Reiter will take on the key area of “International Affairs”. The industrial engineer is a member of the National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech) and of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, among other affiliations. Professor Scholz-Reiter was the Vice-President of the German Research Foundation (DFG) from 2007 to 2011.

Professor Dr Birgitta Wolff, President of the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, will oversee the key areas of “Research, cooperation and early career researchers”. She became Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs in 2010 and was State Minister of Science and Economic Affairs for Saxony-Anhalt between 2011 and 2013. She is a member of the Senate of the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and Chairperson of the German Academic Association for Business Research (VHB), among other affiliations.

Two Vice-Presidents were reappointed for a further two years:

Professor Dr Monika Gross, President of the Beuth University of Applied Sciences Berlin, has been a member of the Executive Board for two years, focussing on the key areas of “Universities and Digitization”.

Rector of the University of Greifswald Professor Dr Johanna Weber has been a member of the Executive Board since 2014, with a focus on the topics of “University Medicine and Health Sciences” and henceforth also “Equality in Academia and Research”.

Their respective terms of office commence on 1 December. The members will agree on the precise allocation of responsibilities and the designations for the portfolios after the inauguration of the new Executive Board.

The following members will step down from the Executive Board at the end of the month: Professor Dr Ulrike Beisiegel, President of the University of Göttingen, Professor Dr Holger Burckhart, Rector of the University of Siegen and Professor Dr Ulrich Rüdiger, Rector of RWTH Aachen University. HRK President Professor Dr Peter-André Alt extended his heartfelt thanks for their many years of service.