The Hochschule Niederrhein (HSNR) elected three new Vice Presidents today. Professor Dr. Gudrun Stockmanns (Studies & Teaching Education), Professor Dr. Kathleen Diener (Research) and Professor Dr. Donja Amirpur (Third Mission and Student Recruitment) will join President Dr. Thomas Grünewald and Chancellor Professor Dr. Fabienne Köller-Marek on 1 September.
Professor Dr. Berthold Stegemerten (former Vice President for Studies & Teaching Education) is leaving the Executive Board at his own request after ten years and will return to the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics. Professor Dr. Dr. Alexander Prange (former Vice President Research & Transfer) will also leave the Executive Board at his own request at the end of his term of office. He was appointed Professor of Microbiology and Food Hygiene at the Faculty of Food and Nutrition Sciences in 2005 and has been a member of the HSNR Executive Board since 2010.
"These are major changes for The Hochschule Niederrhein. When two such experienced Vice Presidents, who have achieved an extraordinary amount, leave, there is always a gap. However, I am confident that the new Vice Presidents will go their own way at the university and will certainly bring in new perspectives. I would like to thank my long-standing colleagues Stegemerten and Prange for the work they have done and the trusting cooperation. I would like to warmly welcome the three new Vice Presidents to the Executive Board of the university. I look forward to working with them," says Dr. Thomas Grünewald.
Gudrun Stockmanns is Professor of Practical Computer Science in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. She is also Dean of Studies there and was a member of the Cyber Management Campus management team. Following her studies in computer science at RWTH Aachen University and her subsequent doctorate at the University of Duisburg-Essen, she was appointed professor at The Hochschule Niederrhein in 2010. After taking over as President of the Ruhr West University of Applied Sciences (May 2015), she returned to the HSNR for the 2018/19 winter semester as a professor and initially as acting academic director of continuing education.
Kathleen Diener has been Professor of Business Information Systems & Digital Innovation in the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics at HSNR since 2022. She studied psychology at Humboldt University Berlin and completed her doctorate in the field of organizing open innovation projects at RWTH Aachen University. At The Hochschule Niederrhein, Diener heads the Institute of Business Process Management and IT (GEMIT) together with Professor Dr.-Ing.
Donja Amirpur was appointed Professor of Migration Education at the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences in 2019. Born in Bonn, she studied sociology and Islamic studies and completed her doctorate in educational science at the University of Bremen. Among other things, she has been a board member of the Intercultural and International Comparative Education section of the German Association for Educational Science since 2019 and spokesperson for the board of trustees of Villa Meerländer, NS documentation center Krefeld, since March 2023.
Prior to this, a search committee consisting of three representatives each from the Senate and the University Council had sought out and approached the candidates. At the end of a formal procedure, the candidates were proposed to the University Election Assembly - consisting of the Senate and the University Council.
