New Leadership from October

Professor Dr. Thomas Fetzer will take office as the new President of the University of Mannheim on 1 October. The newly elected Vice Presidents will take up their positions at the same time.

Margret Suckale und Thomas Fetzer stehen nebeneinander und lächeln in die Kamera. Thomas Fetzer hält einen Blumenstrauß in den Händen. — Margret Suckale, chair of the University Supervisory Board, congratulates Prof. Dr. Thomas Fetzer

In January 2024, the Senate and the University Supervisory Board have unanimously elected Professor Dr. Thomas Fetzer as the new President of the University of Mannheim in a joint meeting. The President’s term of office is six years. Fetzer will succeed Professor Dr. Thomas Puhl, whose term of office ends on 30 September 2024.

The term of office of the new Vice Presidents also begins on 1 October and lasts three years. Together with Fetzer and Executive Vice President Dr. Katrin Schoppa-Bauer they form the new President's Office.

Professor Dr. Jutta Mata takes over as Vice President for Research and Career Paths in Academia, Professor Dr. Heiko Paulheim as Vice President for Digitalization, Equal Opportunity and Diversity and Professor Dr. Cornelia Ruhe as Vice President for Student Affairs and Teaching. Professor Dr. Moritz, who has taken over the office of the Vice President for Sustainability and Information Provision in January 2023, has been re-elected. In his new term, he will be responsible for Sustainability and International Affairs.

Mata and Ruhe will replace Professor Henning Hillmann, Ph.D. and Professor Dr. Annette Kehnel, whose term of office will regularly end on 30 September 2024.

Vier Personen stehen nebeneinander und lächeln in die Kamera. Von links nach rechts: Heiko Paulheim, Jutta Mata, Cornelia Ruhe und Moritz Fleischmann — The new Vice Presidents: Prof. Dr. Heiko Paulheim, Prof. Dr. Jutta Mata, Prof. Dr. Cornelia Ruhe and Prof. Dr. Moritz Fleischmann (from left to right)

Personal Profiles

Thomas Fetzer was born in Mannheim in 1974. He studied Law at the University of Mannheim and Vanderbilt University in the US (LL.M.). In 2009, he earned his habilitation at the University of Mannheim. Since 2012, he has been holder of the chair of Public Law, Regulatory Law and Tax Law at the University of Mannheim. Since October 2021, he has been Vice President for Strategic Planning, Internationalization and Equal Opportunity at the University of Mannheim. Thomas Fetzer is 50 years old, married, and has two sons.

Mata has been holder of the chair of Health Psychology at the University of Mannheim since 2015. From 2018 until 2022, Jutta Mata was the university’s equal opportunity commissioner. Ruhe has been professor of Romance Languages Linguistics and Media Studies at the University of Mannheim since 2010. Since 2022, she has been dean of the School of Humanities. Fleischmann came to the University of Mannheim in 2009, where he is holder of the Chair of Supply Chain Management. Since January 2023, he has been Vice President for Sustainability and Information Provision. Paulheim is professor of Data Science since 2014 and program director of the Mannheim Master in Data Science.

Text: Katja Bauer / August 2024