Prof. Petra Wiederkehr was elected Vice President of TU Dortmund University on 16 June 2023. As a member of the Rectorate, she has taken over the Diversity division.

Wiederkehr has been UA Ruhr professor for Virtual Machining at the Department of Computer Science at TU Dortmund University since 2017 and conducts research in the field of digitalization and optimization of manufacturing processes. Previously, she was a junior professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at TU Dortmund University. She has already dealt with equal opportunities in academic self-administration and also in teaching: She has been chair of the Equal Opportunity Commission of the Department of Computer Science since 2021; before that, she was deputy in the corresponding body of the Department of Mechanical Engineering for two years. Petra Wiederkehr is, among other things, a member of the International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP) and the scientific advisory board of the Cluster of Excellence "Internet of Production" at RWTH Aachen University.

The division of the Vice President Diversity includes all cross-department matters that aim to make positive use of social and cultural diversity at TU Dortmund University and to improve equal opportunities at all levels. Together with the Working Group Diversity, the Vice President fills the business area broadly. She is supported in this by Staff Unit Equal Opportunities, Family and Diversity.