Prof. Dr. Franca Ruhwedel

Franca Ruhwedel has held the Professorship in "Finance and Accounting" at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences in Kamp-Lintfort since 2013. From 2007 to 2013 she was Professor of Accounting and Controlling at FOM University of Applied Sciences in Essen, where she also headed the quality teams and contributed to the university's system accreditation. From 2004 to 2007 she worked in Corporate Mergers & Acquisitions at thyssenkrupp — first in the Corporate Development / M&A department of thyssenkrupp Steel AG in Duisburg, then at group level at thyssenkrupp AG in Essen. Earlier in her career she gained consulting experience at McKinsey & Company in Munich, which she joined as an intern in 1997 and where she subsequently became a member of the "McKinsey College". She earned her doctorate at Ruhr University Bochum, where she was a research associate at the Chair of International Accounting (Prof. Dr. Bernhard Pellens) from 1999 to 2003 and held a doctoral scholarship from the Alwin Reemtsma Foundation. Her path into business began with an apprenticeship at Commerzbank in Münster and internships at Norddeutsche Landesbank in London (Corporate Finance and Treasury) and other financial institutions. Alongside her academic work, Franca Ruhwedel is actively engaged in corporate governance practice. She currently serves on the supervisory boards of United Internet AG, Verve Group SE and thyssenkrupp nucera AG & Co. KGaA, chairing the audit committee in each case.