University CouncilTwo New Members of the University Council Appointed – New Chair Elected
Press Release No. 87/2024
16 July 2024
Dr Claudia Fleischer and Dr Martina Engelbrecht-Greilich join the governing body – Dr Uwe Schroeder-Wildberg becomes chair
The University Council of Ruperto Carola has two new members, Dr Claudia Fleischer (external) and Dr Martina Engelbrecht-Greilich (internal). After the Senate of Heidelberg University endorsed the election, the Science Ministry of Baden Württemberg has announced their appointment as of 1 July 2024. As its chair, the University Council elected Dr Uwe Schroeder-Wildberg to succeed Prof. Dr Hanns-Peter Knaebel, who had held this office since 2015. Dr Uwe Schroeder-Wildberg’s term of office begins on 1 October 2024. The twelve-person University Council has five internal and seven external members, whose respective terms last three years.
Besides the Rectorate and the Senate, the University Council is one of the three central governing bodies of Heidelberg University. In accordance with the State Higher Education Act, it bears responsibility for the development of the university, and proposes action to raise its profile and enhance its performance and competitiveness. Its most important tasks include electing the Rector and the Kanzler, deciding on structural and development plans, and adopting the annual accounts of the university and the two medical faculties.
Claudia Fleischer – the new external member of the University Council – has since 2023 been General Manager and Spokeswoman of the Management Board of Roche Diagnostics GmbH and General Director of Roche Deutschland Holding GmbH. She studied Pharmacy at Martin Luther University Halle/Wittenberg and became a licensed pharmacist in 1998. She then moved to Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich where she obtained her doctorate in the field of pharmaceutical chemistry in 2000. After a time as postdoc at Cornell University (USA) Dr Fleischer began her professional career at a Swiss start-up company, before changing to F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. in 2004 and subsequently taking on different management positions at Roche. Claudia Fleischer is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology.
Martina Engelbrecht-Greilich – an internal member of the University Council – is an academic administrator at Heidelberg University’s Faculty of Modern Languages. After graduating in European Art History and English Philology she earned her doctorate in Heidelberg in 2013 with a thesis on architectural descriptions in the 18th century. Since 2008 Dr Engelbrecht-Greilich has held various functions at Ruperto Carola, including that of managing the Research Council for the Research Field “Cultural Dynamics in Globalized Worlds” (Field of Focus III). Her current main activities at the Faculty of Modern Languages include coordinating study programmes, supporting quality assurance measures and overseeing interdisciplinary research initiatives.
The new chair of the University Council joined the body in autumn last year as an external member. Dr Uwe Schroeder-Wildberg – Chair of the Executive Board of the MLP Group – first trained in banking then gained academic experience at the University of Mannheim, where he completed a degree in Business Studies. This was followed by an academic position attached to the professorial chair for banking and the stock market. In 1992, along with his doctoral supervisor, he moved to the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, where he obtained his doctorate in 1997. His subsequent professional experience in management functions extended to various companies, most recently as an executive board member of the Cortalconsors Group in Paris (France), from where he transferred to MLP in 2003 and became Chairman of its Executive Board in the following year.
Those who have withdrawn from the University Council are Saori Dubourg as an external member and Prof. Dr Katharina Hieke-Kubatzky as an internal member.