On 7 December 2022, the Senate of the University of Mannheim elected Professor Dr. Astrid Lembke as new central equal opportunity commissioner of the University of Mannheim. Lembke holds the chair of German Studies and German Medieval Studies and has been doing research on gender theory, intersectionality, and post-colonial theories for years. During her term of office, she will promote the further development and efficient implementation of measures to avoid that current and future members of the University of Mannheim are discriminated against because of their gender.
The new central equal opportunity commissioner has been elected for two years. Lembke has taken up the office on 1 January 2023 and succeeds Professor Dr. Jutta Mata, who held the office from 1 October 2018 until 30 September 2022, and promoted, in particular, equal opportunities on all academic career levels.
Mata, holder of the chair of Health Psychology, focused on the empirical evidence of measures during her two terms of office. This was the basis for updating and adding equality-related topics to the guidelines on professorial appointments which had just entered into effect. The University of Mannheim thanks Professor Mata for her profound work and her great commitment.