New Leadership at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
New Deans have been elected in all four faculties at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. The Deans were appointed by University President Prof. Peter Benz and will serve a three-year term until the beginning of the 2028 winter semester.
During its constituent session yesterday, Wednesday, 15 October 2025, the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism’s Faculty Board elected new Faculty Management: Prof. Sigrun Langner (Landscape Architecture and Planning) was confirmed as Dean by an overwhelming majority. She is joined by Prof. Mona Mahall (Presentation Methodology) as Vice Dean of Student Affairs, and Prof. Daniela Spiegel (Conservation and History of Architecture) as Vice Dean of Transfer and Research. These appointments are a significant milestone towards equality and signals a strengthening of feminist perspectives in architecture and urban planning. The new Deans intend to focus on sustainability and heritage, and to continue reinforcing the relationship between research and teaching.
The Faculty Board also confirmed Prof. Tom Lahmer (Stochastics and Optimisation) as Dean of the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering on 15 October 2025. With the renaming of the Faculty in 2024, Lahmer made a clear statement in support of improving sustainability in research and teaching. His professorship also unites the Institute for Structural Mechanics (ISM) and the Materials Research and Testing Laboratory (MFPA) in Weimar, further increasing knowledge transfer in the field of »Life Cycle Engineering«. He is joined by Prof. Silvio Beier (Urban Water Management and Technologies for Urban Material Flow Utilization) as Vice Dean of Student Affairs and Prof. Matthias Kraus (Steel and Hybrid Construction) as Vice Dean of Research.
Prof. Burkhart von Scheven (Image–Text–Concept) was elected Dean of the Faculty of Art and Design. In the summer of 2014, he was appointed a professorship position in the Visuelle Kommunikation (Visual Communication) degree programme after having held leadership positions in renowned communication agencies such as »Jung von Matt« and »Saatchi & Saatchi Deutschland« and having founded the AUFBRUCH-Scheven-Kroke agency. He was previously Vice Dean of the Faculty and has been a Senate member for many years. The Faculty Management team also includes Prof. Andrea Dreyer (Art and its Didactics) as Vice Dean of Student and Academic Affairs. Prof. Jana Gunstheimer (Experimental Painting and Drawing) as Vice Dean of Artistic Practice and Public Relations, and Prof. Markus Weisbeck (Graphic Design) as Vice Dean of International Transfer and Research.
The Faculty of Media’s Faculty Board also elected a new Dean at their constituent session on 15 October 2025: Prof. Jan Oliver Ringert. The computer scientist has been Professor of Software Engineering at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar since the summer semester of 2022. After having held academic positions in Aachen, Tel Aviv, Leicester, and London, he is now in Weimar carrying out research on model-based software development, specifically the evolution of software systems and their analysis using models. Prof. Ringert will be supported in his new position by Prof. Reinhard Kunz (Innovation Management and Media) as Vice Dean of Research and Interfaculty Cooperation, and Dr. Irina Kaldrack (Society and Digitalisation) as Vice Dean of Student Affairs.
Further information can be found on the individual faculty webpages:
https://www.uni-weimar.de/en/architecture-and-urbanism/start/
https://www.uni-weimar.de/en/civil-and-environmental-engineering/start/
https://www.uni-weimar.de/en/art-and-design/start/
https://www.uni-weimar.de/en/media/start/