On Friday, 22.03.2024, the chair and deputies were elected at the constituent meeting of the newly composed University Council of the HWG LU. Heike Arend, Managing Director of Landkreistag Rhineland-Palatinate and long-standing Managing Director of the Rhineland-Palatinate Future Initiative (ZIRP), will thus chair the committee for the next five years. She succeeds Dr. Dieter Wagner, Chairman of the University Council for many years, who passed away in December 2023. The first Deputy Chairman of the University Council is Dr. Jörg Breitenbach, Managing Director of BIT PHARMA GmbH, and Prof. Dr. Gösta Jamin, Professor at the Department of Services and Consulting at HWG LU. Jamin succeeds Prof. Dr. Rainer Völker, Professor of Business Administration, in particular Corporate Management and Scientific Director of the Institute for Management and Innovation (IMI). "Prof. Dr. Völker was Deputy Chairman of the University Council for many years and has now handed over to a "younger person" at his own request. However, he will remain a member of the University Council. The university thanks him very much," emphasizes University President Prof. Dr. Gunther Piller.
In addition to the new Chairwoman, the ten-member University Council is also delighted to welcome two other new members: Andreas Gietl, Senior Vice President Digitalization of Business at BASF SE, and Florian Roth, Chief Digital and Information Officer SAP SE, are two further top-class company representatives and alumni of Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences. In addition to the above-mentioned representatives, the University Council is completed by Superior Sr. Isabelle Wien, Chair of the Board of Deaconesses Speyer, Prof. Dr. Barbara Darimont, Professor of Chinese Business, Prof. Dr. Annegret Lorenz-Ruffini, Professor of Law, and student Maike Stephan.
University President Prof. Dr. Gunther Piller congratulated the newly elected Board and the newly composed body: "The Presidential Board wishes all those elected every success in the tasks ahead! We look forward to continuing to work together."
There were also two changes to the university's Board of Trustees, a thirteen-member body chaired by Beatrix Schnitzius: David Guthier, member of the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament and transport policy spokesperson for the SPD state parliamentary group, succeeds Anke Simon. In addition, Christiane Sajdak, Senior Vice President Human Resources at BASF SE, succeeds Dr. Katja Scharpwinkel, who is now a member of the BASF Board of Executive Directors.
Background: University Council - tasks and composition
A University Council is formed for each university in Rhineland-Palatinate. The University Council advises and supports the university in all important matters and promotes its profile development, performance and competitiveness. It must approve the basic regulations and their amendments, the establishment, modification and abolition of academic institutions, the general principles of the Senate on the distribution of posts and funds, the overall development plan and the quality assurance system. It advises the university on fundamental matters, by developing concepts for further development and submits proposals for the establishment of degree programs. The University Council proposes candidates to the Senate for election as President.
The term of office of the University Council is five years. The University Council consists of ten members, five of whom are appointed from the fields of business, science and public life and five from the university. The University Council elects a chairperson and two deputy chairpersons and adopts its own rules of procedure. The chairing member and one deputy chairing member may not be members of the university.
Further information on the committees can be found at: www.hwg-lu.de/hochschule/organisation/gremien
