Chancellor of TU Dortmund University Re-Elected

In an online meeting, the University Council and Senate re-elected the lawyer Albrecht Ehlers as Chancellor with a resounding majority. “Universities are currently in a period of upheaval,” said Ehlers in his address to the committee. “Even after the pandemic, digitization and remote working, as well as climate targets and international competition, will place new demands on administrative tasks. I look forward to accompanying TU Dortmund University one step further into the future on this journey.” He sees the implementation of the e-government law, the structural modernization of the campus and building up the Research Alliance Ruhr as vital projects for the coming years.

Due to the pandemic, the TU Dortmund University Elective Assembly held its ninth meeting completely digitally via video conference for the first time and also voted electronically. As a result, the committee also offered its congratulations virtually. “The University Council asked Mr. Ehlers to run again. So we are all the more delighted that he will now enter another term of office,” said Prof. Ernst Rank, Chairperson of the University Council. Prof. Lorenz Schwachhöfer offered his congratulations on behalf of the Senate: “In this period of upheaval, we are putting our faith in your experience and your innovative, creative spirit as Head of Administration.” Rector Manfred Bayer also sent his regards from his office desk: “I am very pleased that we can continue our long-standing collaboration in the Rectorate.”

Digitization, sustainability, start-up support and internationalization

Albrecht Ehlers has been Chancellor of TU Dortmund University since May 2010. The 63-year-old lawyer previously held top managerial positions in international companies, most recently as a member of the executive board of the Hochtief AG corporation in Essen. At the very beginning of his first term in office, he made valuable contributions to the administration of TU Dortmund University, especially in the areas of financial controlling and HR development, where the relevant processes benefited from a significant boost in digitization during the pandemic. Albrecht Ehlers has also been committed to sustainability, start-up support and internationalization in various capacities for quite some time: As early as 2012, he founded the interdisciplinary working group for sustainability at TU Dortmund University, thus laying the foundations for what is now a subject very high on the university’s agenda. Then, in 2016, he worked on consolidating services from administration and science in the Center for Entrepreneurship & Transfer, which paved the way for transfer becoming the third pillar of the university, on equal footing with research and teaching. In 2012, Ehlers also chaired the board of directors of the liaison office in New York for the University Alliance Ruhr in order to strengthen academic exchange between North America and the Ruhr area. Due to his extensive managerial experience, he is also a highly esteemed advisor outside of his home university – for example, on the International Advisory Board of Texas A&M University or as a board member and non-executive director of various large companies both in Germany and abroad.

In an interview (in German) on the TU website, Chancellor Albrecht Ehlers explains how service-oriented administration can help the university prepare research and teaching for the future.

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