Prof. Dr. Eva Waller, President of Hochschule RheinMain (HSRM), is one of six nominees for the "University Manager of the Year 2025" award. Since 2021, the lawyer has been at the helm of Hochschule RheinMain, based in Wiesbaden and Rüsselsheim - a university of applied sciences with around 12,600 students, five faculties and a strong regional profile. In its portrait of Prof. Dr. Waller, the jury particularly praised her "clear, analytical attitude and her value-oriented, responsible management style".
This year, the jury selected three women and three men for the final round of nominees for the title of "University Manager of the Year 2025". Four finalists head a university, two finalists a university of applied sciences. Hamburg and Hesse are represented this year with two nominations each. The other finalists come from universities in Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia.
This year's nominees
- Prof. Dr. Tanja Brühl, President of the Technical University of Darmstadt
- Prof. Dr. Hauke Heekeren, President of the University of Hamburg (UHH)
- Prof. Dr. Martin Paul, Rector of the Ruhr University Bochum
- Prof. Dr.-Ing. Andreas Timm-Giel, President of the Technical University of Hamburg (TUHH)
- Prof. Dr. Ulrike Tippe, President of the Technical University of Applied Sciences Wildau
- Prof. Dr. Eva Waller, President of the Hochschule RheinMain (HSRM)
"The six nominees this year impressed the jury - both with the way in which they understand leadership and the way in which they shape their university, as well as with their forward-looking, concrete approach to the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence," said jury member Frank Ziegele, Managing Director of the CHE Center for Higher Education Development.
The nominees were selected in a multi-stage process. The CHE used a data-supported pre-selection process to identify 40 universities with particularly strong positive development dynamics. The respective university management teams were then asked about their understanding of leadership and other aspects such as artificial intelligence and university management.
An online survey of university management colleagues and university council chairpersons on the leadership performance of their university management and teamwork served as a further perspective. All results served as the basis for the jury's decision to nominate the six finalists, from whose ranks the University Manager of the Year 2025 will be chosen.
Jury members 2025
The members of this year's jury are Prof. Dr. Holger Burckhart (University of Bonn, former Vice-President of the German Rectors' Conference), Prof.in Dr. Gabriele Gien (President of the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, University Manager of the Year 2024), Prof. Dr. Anne Lequy (Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences, member of the German Science and Humanities Council), Alexandra Lion (Senior Manager Science and Higher Education Market at DIE ZEIT), Dr. Nicola Müllerschön (Head of Industry Practice "Public & Not for Profit" at Odgers Germany), Martin Spiewak (Editor of the Knowledge Department at DIE ZEIT), Prof. Dr. Barbara Sporn (Vienna University of Economics and Business), Julia Wandt (Expert for Corporate Communications and Science Communication, former Chairwoman of the Federal Association of Corporate Communications), Prof. Dr. Frank Ziegele (Managing Director, CHE Center for Higher Education Development).
The CHE Center for Higher Education Development has been presenting the "University Manager of the Year" award since 2008, since 2013 together with the weekly newspaper DIE ZEIT. On November 20, 2025, the award will be presented to the University Manager of the Year 2025 at the "ZEIT für Bildung" event in Berlin.
Text: CHE Center for Higher Education Development