Mourning the Loss of Former President Prof. Paul Velsinger
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TU Dortmund University mourns the loss of its former President, Prof. Dr. Paul Velsinger, who passed away on 1 December at the age of 84. The economist was elected as the third President of the university in 1978 and led its affairs until 1990. He steered the university through twelve eventful years, overseeing the integration of the Pedagogical University Ruhr into the then University of Dortmund and significantly advancing the establishment of the Technology Center and the university’s collaboration with the city.
In 1972, Prof. Paul Velsinger answered the call to his assignment to the still young University of Dortmund. With the subject area of “Economics, particularly Spatial Economic Policy” in the then Section Spatial Planning, he was one of the founding professors. Early on, he engaged in academic self-administration, serving as the Dean of the Department of Spatial Planning in 1975/76 and initially as the Vice President for Construction and Spatial Issues in 1978 before eventually being elected as the President of the university at the age of 39.
His term of office saw the integration of the Pedagogical Institution of Higher Education Ruhr into the University of Dortmund in 1980, which he managed with careful and diplomatic skill. Prof. Velsinger was also one of the visionaries behind the Technology Center, established in the immediate vicinity of the campus in 1985. In the 1980s, the first Fraunhofer Institute also settled near the campus, and the H-Bahn, the world’s first driverless train, started operating between Campus North and South. During his tenure, Velsinger shaped a nationwide exemplary collaboration between an innovative university on the one hand and a region dependent on structural change on the other. In 1990, he was awarded the Honorary Ring of the City of Dortmund for these merits. The former President strengthened the university’s networking with the city society also through new event formats such as children’s and citizens’ festivals. It was always a special concern of his to show society that the university is not an elitist institution.
Prof. Velsinger, a studied and doctorate economist, conducted research, among other things, on the settlement development in the eastern Ruhr area and regional employment development before and after German reunification. Until his retirement in 2004, he also dedicated himself to research questions in the areas of sustainability and globalization. Throughout his life, Paul Velsinger advocated for environmental protection; for example, he was a member of the German Advisory Council on Global Changeand a member of the Working Group on Ecological Issues of the Commission for Social and Societal Issues of the German Bishops’ Conference.
In Professor Paul Velsinger, TU Dortmund University loses a special and highly esteemed personality. The university and the Department of Spatial Planning are grateful to the energetic and prudent scientist, university professor, and longtime President for his significant commitment. TU Dortmund University will keep his memory alive with honor.