New President of Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences (press release)

Dr Oliver Locker-Grütjen has been elected President of Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences. The 47-year-old Doctor of Philosophy will take over for the current acting President, Professor Dr Eberhard Menzel, as the new public face of the University.

Bild

The Rhine-Waal University Electoral Assembly has elected Dr Oliver Locker-Grütjen as new President of Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences today. He will officially enter office on 1 June 2019 for a term of six years.

Professor Dr Aloys Krieg, Chair of both the Board of Governors and the selection committee, is convinced that the University has made a wise decision: “We have found a very capable person in Dr Locker-Grütjen. He brings not only many years of experience in academia, but also the qualifications needed to tackle the job ahead at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences.”

Since 2003, Dr Locker-Grütjen has served in numerous positions at the University of Duisburg-Essen, most recently as Academic Director of the Science Support Centre (SSC). “I am very excited about the results of the election and am looking forward to the new challenges that await me as President of Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences. I see my primary duty in the strategic coordination and steering of internal and external processes, while at the same time respecting the University’s diversity of degree programmes, cultures, staff and students. It is important to me that we work together to shape the University as a team, true to the principles of transparency and equal participation, and utilising the knowledge and experience of each of its members,” said Dr Locker-Grütjen following the election.

A native of Duisburg Rumeln-Kaldenhausen, Dr Locker-Grütjen first earned a degree in teaching from the Universität-Gesamthochschule Essen and a degree in ecology from the University of Essen. He earned his PhD in 2012 in the Faculty of Educational Science of the University of Duisburg-Essen. His career trajectory began in 1999 as a research associate in the central administration of the Universität-Gesamthochschule Essen. From 2000 to 2002 he worked as the personal advisor to the rector of the University of Essen where he supported the complicated merger between the Universities of Essen and Duisburg. Afterwards he assumed various leadership positions at the new combined university, most recently as the Academic Director of the SSC and as a member of the managing body of the Vice-Rectorate for Research, Career Development & Science Transfer. Dr Locker-Grütjen has advised German universities on strategic processes on numerous occasions and worked as an assessor in various programmes of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research and the Stiftung der Deutschen Wirtschaft (Foundation of German Industry) as well.

Election Procedure

The new Higher Education Act for North Rhine-Westphalia (HG NRW) entered into force on 1 October 2014. Under this law, the Rhine-Waal University Electoral Assembly was initially constituted as an official body on 9 February 2017. The main purpose of the Rhine-Waal University Electoral Assembly is to elect or de-elect members of the managing body of the University, the Executive Board.

The University Electoral Assembly consists of two parts: all members of the Senate and all members of the Board of Governors. All members entitled to cast a vote in their respective body are also entitled to cast a vote in the Electoral Assembly. The Rhine-Waal University Electoral Assembly met on 13 February 2019. The election of a new President was scheduled on the agenda for this meeting.

In preparation for the impending election, the Senate and the Board of Governors each appointed three members (six in total) to a selection committee. This committee was responsible for organising a call for applications and managing the resulting selection process. At the end of the process, the selection committee presented the top candidate to the Electoral Assembly for confirmation.

As the Senate consists of more members with voting power than the Board of Governors, but by law both halves of a University Electoral Assembly must be on equal footing (see Section 22a (1) HG NRW), individual votes were weighted accordingly.

Information