With the award, the DHV, which represents the profession of university teachers in Germany, recognizes the President’s exemplary administration of office. Professor Puhl, who was elected in an online survey among the DHV's 33,000 members, wants to promote the reconciliation of work, studies, and family. He intends the prize money of EUR 10,000 to go into purchasing outdoor play equipment for the Child Care Center of the Studierendenwerk Mannheim. 4,109 researchers participated in the voting.
Puhl himself was surprised and very happy to receive the award: “I’m almost speechless. I am enormously pleased that my academic colleagues are satisfied with my work and ultimately that of my team – and this has even been the case for some time now.” According to him, the result of the ranking motivates him even more to continue to advocate for the university’s interests.
With a grade of 1.51, Professor Puhl received the best score. 94 percent of the participants in the survey acknowledged the jurist, who was in second place last year, to be a “very good” or “ideal fit” for the leadership office. They recognized Puhl’s “warmth and personal affection”, his appreciative and esteeming style of communication, but also his expertise and leadership skills.
For the ranking of rectors and presidents, researchers were asked if they see the individual holding the office in question as a suitable candidate for managing the respective higher education institution. The survey participants could assign a school grade-type evaluation in a scheme of six choices ranging from “ideal individual” (grade 1, best) to “worst possible individual” (grade 6, worst). The detailed result will be published in the April issue of the “Forschung & Lehre” magazine. It is also available at https://www.hochschulverband.de/fileadmin/redaktion/download/pdf/presse/ranking-dhv_2021.pdf.