Professor Hoch received the “Rector of the Year” award. Prof. Dr. Bernhard Kempen, President of the DHV, and Alberto Dörr, Head of Santander Universities Germany, congratulated him when they presented him with the accolade, which he has now won for an impressive third time. In fact, he is only the second head of a university to be named “Rector of the Year” three times after Lambert Koch, former Rector of the University of Wuppertal.
Professor Hoch is only the second head of a university to be named “Rector of the Year” three times after Lambert Koch, former Rector of the University of Wuppertal. Funded by Santander Universities, the prize is presented by the professional organization representing researchers in Germany in recognition of exemplary performance in office. Professor Hoch was chosen in an online survey of the DHV’s 33,000 members, which attracted 3,140 respondents. As in previous years, the Center for Evaluation and Methodology at the University of Bonn was in charge of putting together the rankings and its academic management.
The award comes with €10,000 in prize money, which was put up by Santander Universities and which the winner can use to fund a project at their university. Rector Hoch plans to put it toward a new series of events at the University of Bonn that is designed primarily by and for students. This innovative format is intended to illustrate the history and future of science at the University of Excellence and thus inspire coming generations in particular to take up research and teaching.
With a grade point average of 1.60, Professor Hoch achieved the highest rating. Nearly 70 percent of the voters attested that he was „the ideal choice“ for the leadership position. Hoch is mostly seen as „a proactive chancellor with visions, displaying authentic and objective commitment to the University of Bonn,“ „who knows how to convince through his interdisciplinary and integrative approach, his incredibly good empathy regarding various academic cultures, who can listen and communicate difficult decisions in a humanely pleasant manner, and who is simply praiseworthy.“