The Hochschule Niederrhein (HSNR) electoral assembly has confirmed Professor Dr Kathleen Diener as Vice President for Research and Innovation and newly elected Professor Dr Michael Heber as Vice President for Studies and Teaching Education. Both will join President Professor Dr Susanne Meyer and Chancellor Professor Dr Fabienne Köller-Marek on the Executive Board from 1 March.
Prof. Dr Kathleen Diener has been Vice President for Research and Innovation since 1 September 2024 and was confirmed in office by the election. As a professor of Information Systems with a specialisation in Digital Innovation at the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics at HSNR, she stands for the structured and strategically oriented further development of the university's research and transfer activities. Her aim is to further sharpen the HSNR's profile in research and create sustainable framework conditions for knowledge and technology transfer.
"Transfer at our university is created by committed people and professional expertise. To make it sustainable, we need reliable structures, a flexible organisational framework and economically viable models. I would like to continue working on this in the coming term of office," says Diener.
Professor Dr Michael Heber was newly elected to the Executive Board. He has been Professor of Design and Plastics Engineering at the HSNR since 2011 and is particularly involved in interdisciplinary teaching education, internationalisation issues and research projects on the sustainability of plastics. After completing his studies and doctorate at RWTH Aachen University, Heber held management positions in international industrial companies.
"I am very pleased about the trust placed in me. Our common goal is to qualify students so that they can act responsibly and sustainably in a dynamically changing world of work," explains Heber.
University President Professor Dr Susanne Meyer welcomes the new composition of the Executive Board: "I am very much looking forward to working with Michael Heber and Kathleen Diener, who bring a great deal of commitment, drive and experience to the table. I am confident that we will be able to shape the upcoming changes at The Hochschule Niederrhein with a broad-based Executive Board, with our different approaches, experience in academia, industry and practice, as well as different ages and specialisms. I am very grateful to my colleagues Donja Amirpur and Gudrun Stockmanns, who have stepped down from the Executive Board, for their commitment and the passion with which they worked on the Executive Board."
