Professor Dr. Geraldine Rauch was elected to the office of president at TU Berlin in the first round of voting. She received 31 votes from the Extended Academic Senate. Her four-year term of office begins 1 April 2022. This makes Rauch the first woman to be elected president of Technische Universität Berlin.
Ulrike Woggon, physics professor, and Christian Thomsen, current TU president, also stood for election. Woggon received 7 votes and Thomsen 21. Two votes were determined invalid.
Geraldine Rauch: "We are facing tremendous ecological and social challenges, including climate change, demographic change, and the energy and transport transition. TU Berlin will play a key role in this. The University must serve as the central pillar of technology transfer and social integration in Berlin. No other university has the technological profile to take on these issues. And, no other university also offers its breadth of humanities, social sciences, and business and management subjects to drive real change in society. Now is the time to strengthen and openly showcase our areas of focus – within the Berlin University Alliance, Germany, and beyond. It is our joint task to develop technological and social solutions. To achieve this, we need collaboration and dialog among all members of the university and across all disciplines.
As the Executive Board, we want the University to be strong both inside and out. University should be enjoyable. Our goal is to make a lasting investment in appreciative, reliable cooperation, transparent communication, and fair working conditions."
An absolute majority (31 votes) was required to be elected. There are a total of 61 members in the Extended Academic Senate, which comprises 31 professors, ten academic staff, ten students, as well as ten staff in administration and technology, all of whom are members of the Academic Senate.
On 26 January 2022, the Extended Academic Senate of TU Berlin elected Stephan Völker first vice president. During his four-year term of office, which begins 1 April 2022, he will be responsible for research and appointments. As first vice president he also serves as deputy of the president. Völker, a lighting engineer, is a member of Geraldine Rauch's team. Rauch was elected the first female president of the University on 19 January 2022.
Stephan Völker received 42 votes from the 59 members present. Eight committee members abstained from voting. Nine submitted votes for Professor Dr.-Ing. Birgit Milius, who stood for election as part of current TU Berlin president Christian Thomsen's team. This was the second round of voting for the office of first vice president.
Elections for the other vice presidents will be held on 9 February 2022.
The articles were first published on 20 and 26 January by TU Berlin.
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