President of the Year: Prof. Dr. Stephan Dabbert among the Top 3 Most Popular University Presidents  [27.02.24]

Professors elect Dr. Manfred Bayer (TU Dortmund University) as Rector of the Year. In 2nd and 3rd place are Prof. Dr. Thomas Puhl (University of Mannheim) and Prof. Dr. Stephan Dabbert (University of Hohenheim)

University of Hohenheim / Jan Winkler

For the ranking of university presidents, the German Association of University Professors and Lecturers (DHV) asked its members to rate the extent to which they consider the respective office holders to be suitable for the position of university director. Their assessment was based on grades ranging from 1 (“the ideal person for the job”) to 6 (“the worst possible person for the job”).

On average, just under 68 percent of respondents rated their own university management as predominantly positive. A good quarter (27 percent) see their respective leader as “the ideal person for the job.” Averaged across all participants, the German university presidents received an average grade of 2.75 from the academics on an evaluation spectrum ranging from 1.48 to 4.05.


Seventy-seven percent consider Hohenheim’s president to be the “ideal” or “very good person for the job”

77 percent of the participants attested to him being the “ideal person for the job” or a “very good person for the job.” Expressed in German school grades, the average score of 1.84 corresponds to a 2+.

Just ahead of Prof. Dr. Dabbert is the President of the University of Mannheim, Prof. Dr. Puhl, with a school grade of 1.61. As the frontrunner in this year’s ranking, Prof. Dr. Manfred Bayer from TU Dortmund University received a school grade of 1.48 and thus the title of “President of the Year 2024.”

Also among the top five are Rector Prof. Dr. Birgitta Wolff from the University of Wuppertal and President Prof. Dr. Susanne Menzel-Riedl from the University of Osnabrück, who tied for 4th place (grade: 1.87). Prof. Dr. Wolff is also an external member of the University of Hohenheim’s University Council.


“Managing the University of Hohenheim is a great honor and a pleasure”

“I am delighted that my two colleagues Bayer and Puhl have received this award and I congratulate them on their success,” said Prof. Dr. Dabbert, reacting to the news. “I am pleased to work directly with such esteemed individuals as Prof. Puhl on the State Rectors' Conference and Prof. Wolff on the University Council.”

At the University of Hohenheim, he feels that being director of “this innovative university with so many creative minds” is a great honor and a pleasure. “I am proud of the fact that we in Hohenheim have jointly succeeded in creating a constructive culture of discussion and a lasting spirit of optimism. We have already come a long way with this unity – for example in the current selection process for the Excellence Strategy. And I am sure that we will achieve a lot more along the way.”

Prof. Dr. Dabbert was re-elected for a third term of office by the University Council and Senate last year. The election in the University Council was unanimous with 9 votes in favor from all members present. The election in the Senate was carried by a large majority of 27 votes in favor, 4 against, and 2 abstentions. Both bodies acknowledged the election with standing ovations.



BACKGROUND German Association of University Professors and Lecturers (DHV) and professor ranking

The German Association of University Professors and Lecturers is a professional association of researchers in Germany with over 33,500 members. The survey for the German Association of University Professors and Lecturers (DHV) “Rector of the Year” ranking was conducted among all members from December 6 to 8. Only universities whose rectors or presidents had been in office for at least 100 days at the beginning of the voting period and who received at least 30 ratings were ranked. The direction and execution of the ranking, which included 48 universities this year, lies with the Center for Evaluation and Methods (Zentrum für Evaluation und Methoden) at the University of Bonn. The DHV will publish detailed results in the March edition of the journal “Forschung & Lehre”: https://www.hochschulverband.de/fileadmin/redaktion/download/pdf/presse/ranking-dhv_2024.pdf

The “Rector of the Year” award will be presented at the German Science Gala, which will take place on 25 April 2024, on the eve of the 73rd DHV Day in Berlin. The prize money of € 10,000 donated by Santander Universities is to be used by the prize winner to finance a university-related project.


Overview of all winners of the award “Rector of the Year” since it was introduced:

2024 Prof. Dr. Manfred Bayer, TU Dortmund University
2023 Prof. Dr. Michael Hoch, University of Bonn
2022 Prof. Dr. Thomas Puhl, University of Mannheim
2021 Prof. Dr. Michael Hoch, University of Bonn
2020 Prof. Dr. Michael Hoch, University of Bonn
2019 Prof. Dr. Lambert Koch, University of Wuppertal
2018 Prof. Dr. Johannes Wessels, University of Münster
2017 Prof. Dr. Lambert Koch, University of Wuppertal
2016 Prof. Dr. Stephan Dabbert, University of Hohenheim
2015 Prof. Dr. Helmut J. Schmidt, TU Kaiserslautern
2014 Prof. Dr. Lambert Koch, University of Wuppertal
2013 Prof. Dr. Jan-Hendrik Olbertz, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
2012 Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Herrmann, TU München
2011 Prof. Dr. Lambert Koch, University of Wuppertal
2010 Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schareck, University of Rostock
2009 Prof. Dr. Elmar Weiler, Ruhr-Universität Bochum


Additional information
DHV ranking 2024: https://www.hochschulverband.de/fileadmin/redaktion/download/pdf/presse/ranking-dhv_2024.pdf

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