A President is selected: Prof. Dr. Winfried Speitkamp to be the new President of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
Once all of the requirements are fulfilled, the Thuringian Minister of Economy, Science, and Digital Society Wolfgang Tiefensee will appoint Prof. Dr. Speitkamp.
»I am delighted at the result and pleased to take up this challenge. I see the trust placed in me as a great responsibility and I'm sure that together we can continue to advance the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar,« said Prof. Dr. Winfried Speitkamp upon learning of the positive result following the University Council meeting.
The work of the 58-year-old native of Düsseldorf has focused on cultures of memory, preservation of historical monuments, and political symbolism, as well as the history of Africa and colonialism. He has been a professor of Modern and Contemporary History at the University of Kassel since 2010. From April 2013 to March 2016 Prof. Dr. Speitkamp was the Dean of the Social Sciences Department at the University of Kassel. He is a member of the Senate and represents the university as a faculty delegate to the German Research Foundation (DFG).
After completing his studies in history at the Phillips University Marburg/Lahn, Prof. Dr. Speitkamp earned a doctorate in 1986 with a dissertation on 19th-century constitutional history. In 1994 he qualified as a full professor at the Justus-Liebig University of Giessen with his study of the relationship between the state and historical monument preservation in Germany. From 1997 to 2008, he was a project lead in the special research field of »Cultures of Memory« at the German Research Foundation (DFG), and from 2009 to 2015 he was the spokesperson for the »Societies of Violence« DFG research group. Since 2014 he has been the spokesperson of the interdisciplinary research topic »Animal - Human Society: Approaches to Interdisciplinary Animal Research« in the Hessian excellence-promotion programme LOEWE. Prof. Dr. Speitkamp is Chairman of the Hessian Historic Monuments Council and a member of the board of the Hessian Historic Commission.
»We are pleased to have found in the person of Prof. Dr. Winfried Speitkamp a president who is simultaneously an outstanding scholar and someone with the integrative capabilities to forge a link between academic, technical, and artistic interests across a range of subjects, « says Dr. Rainer Ambrosy, the Chairman of the Search Committee and a member of the University Council. »With his strong leadership and communications abilities, he will continue strategic development of key university initiatives and build upon the excellent reputation of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.«
Presidential selection at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
The selection of the new president was based on proposals submitted by a Search Committee formed at the beginning of 2015 by the University Directorate to conduct a public, nationwide campaign. The search committee included three members of the University Council of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar and three members chosen by the Senate. After the candidates were interviewed, the search committee submitted a list of three candidates to the University Boards who were invited to an internal university hearing on Wednesday, 22 June 2016.
On Thursday, 23 June 2016 the search committee consulted with the deans of the four faculties, student representatives, the Senate, and the University Council. Upon agreement between the Senate and the University Council, Prof. Dr. Winfried Speitkamp was selected as the university President the same afternoon.