"I felt like the world was unlocked to me"
- People
- Series & Dossiers
The economist Prof. Dr. Evelyn Korn studied at the University of Dortmund from 1988 to 1994 and received her doctorate there in 1999. In 2004, she habilitated at the University of Tübingen and in the same year received a call to the University of Marburg as Professor of Microeconomics. She took over the position of Vice President for University Culture and Quality on 18 February 2022, having previously been Vice President for Student Affairs from 2016 to 2022. Since 2020, she has also been Director Science at the newly established Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education. In this interview, she talks about how she experienced her student days in Dortmund, what TU Dortmund University still means to her today, and why curiosity is a very important quality.
Why did you come to TU Dortmund University back then?
I knew early on that I wanted to study mathematics and physics - two subjects that are represented at many university locations. Since I come from a household that definitely had to think about the money for studying, it was clear: the university had to be within commuting distance from Hamm, my home at the time.
The campus appealed to me, looked nice. Then my mother, who accompanied me on the exploration, and I met another friendly person on campus and my heart was already won. And indeed, I have never regretted the decision.
How did your studies shape your life and career path?
It has been a great foundation for a lot of things. In fact, mathematics quickly proved to be a good decision, and I then switched from physics to economics. From today's perspective, I would say that the systemic element attracted me to both sciences. In the end, economics was my first choice because I was closer to people than to particles, to put it bluntly. The university provided an environment where I felt really challenged intellectually. There was a lot of input, I got the opportunity to develop, and made long-lasting friendships.
I was at the end of my undergraduate studies when Prof. Wolfgang Leininger came to Dortmund, with whom I later also did my doctorate. He gave lectures in such a way that I had the feeling that the world was being opened up to me. In other words, exactly the way I would like it to be for my students. I was totally captivated by that. So I stayed in Dortmund after graduating and did my doctorate in the field of economics.