Introducing: Eight Deans of Chemnitz University of Technology

The new heads of the eight faculties of Chemnitz University of Technology took up their posts on April 1, 2022

At the eight faculties of Chemnitz University of Technology, eight deans were elected by the faculty councils in recent weeks, who began their three-year terms on April 1, 2022. For four of them, the second term in this leadership role is already beginning.

"I congratulate, also on behalf of the entire rectorate, the elected deans very sincerely on your election, thank you just as sincerely for your willingness to have made yourself available for this responsible office and I wish you all the very best for your extremely important duties! At the same time, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the departing deans for their great commitment to the welfare of our university and for their excellent cooperation," says Prof. Dr. Gerd Strohmeier, rector of Chemnitz University of Technology.

One woman and seven men head the faculties of Chemnitz University of Technology:

Faculty of Natural Sciences

Prof. Dr. Thomas Seyller, Professorship for Experimental Physics with a Focus on Technical Physics

Thomas Seyller was born in Nuremberg in 1965. After high school and military service, he studied physics at the Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg and received his diploma in 1993. Following his doctorate in physical chemistry at FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg in 1996, he worked for two and a half years as a postdoc at Penn State University in the USA, from where he returned to Erlangen in 1999. In 2006, he received his Habilitation in Physics and was appointed as a private lecturer. From 2009 to 2012, Thomas Seyller represented the Chair of Technical Physics at FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg. Since October 2012, he has held the Professorship of Experimental Physics with a Focus on Technical Physics at Chemnitz University of Technology. Thomas Seyller is a member of the German Physical Society (DPG) and winner of the 2010 Walter Schottky Award for Solid-State Physics. From 2010 to 2017, he coordinated the Priority Program 1459 Graphene of the German Research Foundation (DFG). His current research focuses on semiconductor surfaces and interfaces as well as graphene and other 2D materials, with a focus on various fundamental properties as well as the fabrication of the materials and systems. Currently, he is a member of the DFG research group "Proximity induced correlation effects in low dimensional systems". At Chemnitz University of Technology, he has held various positions since his appointment, including managing director of the Institute of Physics, dean of studies, vice dean, and senator. He has been dean of his faculty since 2019.

Faculty of Mathematics

Prof. Dr. Daniel Potts, Professorship Applied Analysis

Daniel Potts was born in Malchin in 1969 and studied mathematics at the University of Rostock from 1990 to 1995, completing his doctorate there in 1998. Subsequently, he was a research associate at the Institute of Mathematics at the Medical Universität zu Lübeck and completed his habilitation in 2004. In 2005, he was appointed to the Professorship of Applied Analysis at Chemnitz University of Technology. His research focuses on methods of Fourier analysis and approximation theory as well as efficient numerical methods for high-dimensional approximation.  At his professorship, fast algorithms based on methods of numerical analysis, among others, are developed and used for a variety of applications. Daniel Potts has international research experience at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the SINTEF Research Institute in Oslo, the University of Como, and the University of New South Wales. He is, among other things, active in the Mathematik-Olympiaden (Mathematical Olympiad) e.V. and in the scientific advisory board of Saxony's Center for Teaching and Learning. Prior to his election as dean, he already served as dean of studies, vice dean and member of the Senate.

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

Prof. Dr. Andreas Schubert, Professorship of Microfabrication Technology

Andreas Schubert was born in Dresden in 1960. He studied Fertigungsmittelentwicklung (Production Equipment Development) at TU Dresden from 1982 to 1987, where he also earned his doctorate in 1991. In 1992, he moved to the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU in Chemnitz. There he held several management positions, including at the IWU branch office in the USA and Canada. Under his direction, the Micromanufacturing Technology field of work was established at Fraunhofer IWU from 1997 onwards, which he led as department head until 2013. Since 2014, he has headed the Competence Center Micromanufacturing and Surface Technologies (KoMOT) between IWU and Chemnitz University of Technology. In March 2003, he was appointed to the Professorship of Micromanufacturing Technology at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Chemnitz University of Technology. His research activities focus on the development of manufacturing processes and systems for micro and ultra precision manufacturing as well as the design and manufacturing of functional surfaces in accordance with requirements. He has been head of the microtechnology/mechatronics course since 2003. From 2011 to 2017, he was a review board member of the German Research Foundation in the field of production engineering. After a participation in the Senate of the university, he served as Vice Rector for Wissens- und Technologietransfer (Knowledge and Technology Transfer) of Chemnitz University of Technology from 2012 to 2016, and furthermore as acting rector in 2016. Under his leadership, the university's Zentrum für Wissens- und Technologietransfer was established, of which he was director from 2014 to 2016. From 2019 to 2022, he was vice dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.

Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology

Prof. Dr. Stefan Streif, Professorship of Automatic Control and System Dynamics

Stefan Streif was born in Ravensburg in 1979 and studied Engineering Cybernetics at the University of Stuttgart and at the University of Sheffield (UK). He completed his dissertation at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (Martinsried) and the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems (Magdeburg). In 2011, he received his PhD from Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg. Subsequently, he worked at the same university as a lecturer, project leader and postdoctoral researcher. This was followed by further, longer stays abroad at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, USA), the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Trondheim, Norway), and the Laboratory for Analysis and Architecture of Systems (Toulouse, France). In 2014, he was appointed as an assistant professor at the Technische Universität Ilmenau (Department of Automation) and moved to his current position at Chemnitz University of Technology in 2015. His research focuses on the development of methods for the control, analysis, identification and optimization of dynamic processes and the application of these methods e.g. in the field of energy, automation and agricultural systems. He has been dean of his faculty since 2019.

Faculty of Computer Science

Prof. Dr. Martin Gaedke, Professorship of Distributed and Self-Organizing Systems

Martin Gaedke was born in Bielefeld in 1971 and studied computer science at the University of Karlsruhe (TH) until 1997, where he also received his doctorate in 2000. He was then a research assistant at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and during this time also a lecturer at TU Braunschweig. Since 2002 he has been co-editor of the Journal of Web Engineering and since 2006 president of the International Society for Web Engineering. He was appointed to the Professorship of Distributed and Self-Organizing Systems at Chemnitz University of Technology in 2007. In addition to research stays at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (USA) and the National University of La Plata (Argentina), among others, he was a visiting professor at TU Vienna (Austria) in 2011 and 2019. As an Invited Expert of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), he has been involved in the development of web standards since 2011. Since 2018, he has been a member of the IT advisory board of the German Foundation for University Admissions (Stiftung für Hochschulzulassung). In research, teaching, and knowledge transfer, Gaedke pursues the goal of improving the collaboration of people, software, and things in the hyperconnected society. He is responsible for the international master's degree program in Web Engineering, which was introduced in 2015. He was appointed rectorate representative for the development of a research information system in 2020 and director of the University Computing Center in 2021. He has been dean of his faculty since 2019, previously serving as dean of students and vice dean.

Faculty of Economics and Business Administration

Prof. Dr. Stefan Hüsig, Professorship of Innovation Research and Technology Management

Stefan Hüsig holds the Professorship for Innovation Research and Technology Management at Chemnitz University of Technology. Prior to his election as dean of his faculty, he served as dean of studies for the Master of Management & Organization Studies. Prior to that, he held various positions in academia, including interim professor at the Professorship of Innovation Research and Sustainable Resource Management at Chemnitz University of Technology, private lecturer and senior academic advisor at the Chair of Innovation and Technology Management at the University of Regensburg, or deputy director and co-founder of a new Institute of Innovation and Technology Management at the University of Economics and Business in Prague (Czech Republic). He has also held visiting positions at the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado (USA), the Aston Business School at Aston University in Birmingham (UK), the Clermont Graduate School of Management, Clermont-Ferrand (France) and Fudan University in Shanghai (China). His teaching portfolio includes EMBA and in-house courses as well as teaching experiences in eight countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. In addition to his academic activities, he has been involved in research and consulting projects in cooperation with Mannesmann, Vodafone, Continental or Fraunhofer. He holds a Habilitation in Business Administration, a PhD in Innovation Management and a Diploma in Business Administration from the University of Regensburg.

Faculty of Humanities

Prof. Dr. Eric Linhart, Professorship of Political Systems

Eric Linhart was born in Mannheim in 1976. He studied political science and mathematics at the university there from 1997 to 2002 and subsequently earned a doctorate in political science (Dr. rer. soc.). (degree in 2006). From 2007 to 2014, he held the Assistant Professorship in Applied Political Economy at the University of Kiel (Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel), where he also completed his habilitation in 2015. Further teaching and research activities took Linhart to the universities in Göttingen and Heidelberg as well as to the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg/Institute for Advanced Study in Delmenhorst. In 2015, he finally accepted a call to Chemnitz University of Technology to the Professorship of Political Systems. Linhart led several DFG projects on coalition theories as well as on electoral systems. His research also focuses on electoral behavior, political parties, lobbying, political discourse, and decision and game theory. Currently, he is spokesperson for the research network initiative "Populist Discourses" at the Faculty of Arts. Linhart is, among other things, a member of the German Political Science Association (GPSA) and the International Political Science Association (IPSA) as well as editor in chief of the German Political Science Quarterly (PVS) since 2020. At Chemnitz University of Technology, he has held various positions, including member of the Extended Senate, dean of studies, and member of the faculty council of the Faculty of Humanities.

Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences

Prof. Dr. Anja Strobel, Professorship of Personality Psychology and Assessment

Anja Strobel was born in 1974 in Karl-Marx-Stadt, now Chemnitz, and studied psychology at TU Dresden until 1998. Her doctorate followed in 2004, and from 2010 she held an Assistant Professorship for Prozessorientierte Diagnostik (Process-Oriented Assessment), which was successfully evaluated in 2012. Since 2014, Prof. Strobel has held the Professorship for Personality Psychology and Assessment at Chemnitz University of Technology. The focus of her research is on the conditions, consequences, and assessment of (un)moral behavior of employees in organizations as well as the development, assessment, and practical relevance of cognitive investments. Within the Collaborative Research Center 1410 Hybrid Societies, Prof. Strobel heads the graduate school and deals with responsibility in hybrid societies. As a member of the scientific advisory board of the Forum Assessment e.V. as well as in the context of personal licensing for job-related aptitude diagnostics according to DIN 33430, she is intensively committed to a high quality of diagnostic processes and a close integration of research and practice. After working, among others, as dean of studies or in the Ethics Committee of the Faculty, Anja Strobel has been dean of the Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences since 2019.

(Article: Mario Steinebach / Translation: Brent Benofsky)

Matthias Fejes
01.04.2022

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