Professor Petra Wiederkehr is New Vice President at TU Dortmund University
- Top News
- People
- Higher Education Policy
At the beginning of the year, Manfred Bayer, President of TU Dortmund University, had suggested adding an additional vice president to the rectorate for the Diversity Division to the Senate and the University Council, following which a selection committee from both bodies convened. “In Petra Wiederkehr, we have found a candidate for this position who is an outstanding role model for equal opportunity on the path to a professorship,” said Bayer, stating his reasons for proposing Professor Wiederkehr’s election. Despite progress in the past decades, women professors are still outnumbered, especially in the natural sciences and engineering. “I’m happy to contribute my perspective on diversity in order to break down structural barriers and encourage women in their academic careers,” said Petra Wiederkehr. “I’m also looking forward to expanding the Diversity Division together with the experts from the Working Group Diversity.”
Professor Johanna Weber, Chairperson of the University Council, congratulated her: “I hope that your openness and enthusiasm will inspire you in your office to break new ground and achieve your goals.” Professor Lorenz Schwachhöfer conveyed the Senate’s congratulations: “Following a vacancy of around two years, we’re very pleased that a vice president will now be taking over the Diversity Division again. We wish you all the best and every success for this task,” said Schwachhöfer, Chairperson of the Senate. Until recently, the division had been assigned to the President personally on an interim basis.
UA Ruhr Professor for Virtual Machining
Professor Petra Wiederkehr was appointed to the “Virtual Machining” professorship of UA Ruhr at the Department of Computer Science of TU Dortmund University in 2017 and is conducting research in the area of digitization and optimization of manufacturing processes. Prior to that, she was an assistant professor for “Modeling Methods for Machining Processes” at the university’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. She has already dealt with equal opportunities in academic self-administration as well as in teaching: Since 2021, she has been Chairperson of the Equal Opportunity Commission of the Department of Computer Science; prior to that, she was Deputy Chairperson on the corresponding committee at the Department of Mechanical Engineering for two years. Together with her team, she runs a course on “Pioneering Women in Computer Science”, among other things, so that students can learn about the accomplishments of women in computer science – including those of Hedy Lamarr, namesake of the Lamarr Institute for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, where Petra Wiederkehr works as Principal Investigator. She has received several awards for her research. Among other things, she is a member of the International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP) and of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Cluster of Excellence “Internet of Production” at RWTH Aachen University.
