03. February 2025

Change at the top of the Bonn University Council Change at the top of the Bonn University Council

Dr. Georg Schütte succeeds Prof. Dr. Dieter Engels

The University Council of the University of Bonn has a new chairman: The committee unanimously elected the Secretary General of the Volkswagen Foundation, Dr. Georg Schütte, to succeed Prof. Dr. Dieter Engels, who had chaired the University Council since 2013.

Change at the top of the Bonn University Council
Change at the top of the Bonn University Council - (from left) Dr. Georg Schütte succeeds Prof. Dr. Dieter Engels. © Photo: Gregor Hübl/Uni Bonn
Download all images in original size The impression in connection with the service is free, while the image specified author is mentioned.

Prof. Engels had asked to be relieved of his duties for personal reasons. At twelve years, he had held the office of Chairman of the University Council longer than anyone else. Prof. Engels (born in 1950) has known the University of Bonn since a young age: He studied law in Bonn. After completing his doctorate, he held positions in the scientific services of the German Bundestag parliament and with the SPD parliamentary group in the German Bundestag. He then moved to the Federal Audit Office as Vice President in 1999, where he was President from 2002 to 2014.

The outgoing Chairman thanked the members of the University Council and the Rectorate for their excellent cooperation: “What we have achieved together is something to be proud of! I look back with pleasure on the brilliant development of the University of Bonn over the past twelve years into the shining University of Excellence it is today. I am delighted to have contributed to this success story in my role with advice and action.”

b]Further developing the University of Excellence

His successor Dr. Georg Schütte (born in 1962) says: “It is with great respect that I take over the chairmanship of the Bonn University Council. My predecessor led the Board with great commitment for twelve years - it is both an honor and a responsibility to build on this. I look forward to working with the Rectorate and my colleagues to further develop our University of Excellence and further consolidate its outstanding position.”

Dr. Schütte was a member of the then newly formed University Council of the University of Bonn from 2008 to 2010. He left the board after being appointed State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research from his position as Secretary General of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 2009. Dr. Schütte has been Secretary General of the Volkswagen Foundation since 2019 and returned to the University Council of the University of Bonn in 2023.

b]Smart advice and strategic foresight/b]

Rector Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Michael Hoch thanked the outgoing Chairman of the University Council: “Professor Engels has been closely involved in the development of the University of Bonn for over twelve years. His wise counsel and strategic foresight were extremely valuable during this special time for us. These were years in which the University of Bonn was able to record outstanding successes, particularly in the Excellence Strategy. We owe this not least to the great cooperation with the university committees, especially the University Council. On behalf of the University of Bonn, but also personally, I would like to express my sincere thanks for his contribution, which can hardly be overestimated.”

The Rector warmly congratulated Engels' successor Dr. Schütte: “In Georg Schütte, the University Council has gained a chairman who is one of the most distinguished minds and thought leaders in the German academic landscape. The entire Rectorate and I are very much looking forward to the coming years, in which we want to continue to develop the University of Excellence Bonn into the future together, especially in challenging times.”

The University Council is a body anchored in the Higher Education Act of North Rhine-Westphalia. Two of its most important tasks are advising the Rectorate and supervising its management. At least half of the members of the University Council should be external. These are personalities who have rendered outstanding services to society, science and culture. The Bonn University Council has nine external and four internal members.

Further information:
https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/university/organisation-and-institutions/governing-bodies/university_council

Change at the top of the Bonn University Council
Change at the top of the Bonn University Council - (from left) Dr. Georg Schütte, Rector Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Michael Hoch, Prof. Dr. Dieter Engels © Photo: Gregor Hübl/Uni Bonn
Wird geladen