After five terms as Vice-President, Prof. Dr Julia Kormann will take the helm at HNU on 1 March next year.
The current president, Prof. Dr. Uta M. Feser, who has shaped the university since 2006, congratulated her successor: “With Prof. Dr. Julia Kormann, the university is gaining an extremely experienced, highly committed president with excellent connections in the region. I am convinced that she will continue to lead and advance HNU excellently in the coming years with new impetus and strategic vision. I warmly congratulate my long-standing colleague on her election as the new president of Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences. I wish her courage to break new ground and the right instinct for the challenges of the times.”
The Chair of the University Council and Honorary Senator Dr Beate Merk, Member of the State Parliament, former Minister of State and former Mayor of Neu-Ulm, offered her congratulations: “With Prof. Dr Julia Kormann, the HNU is being taken over by someone who has known the university for many years and has already made her mark in many areas. Her experience, commitment and vision for the future represent a great opportunity for the further development of HNU. I look forward to continuing the trusting cooperation between the University Council and the new president.”
After the election, Prof. Dr Julia Kormann said: “The Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences is very close to my heart. For me, it is both an honour and an obligation to set the course for a continued successful future. I am very much looking forward to continuing this success story together with the HNU community and would like to express my gratitude for the trust placed in me. As future president, my goal is to develop needs-based innovations for the region. Three areas are particularly important to me: participatory strategy development, digital and sustainable transformation with less bureaucracy, and strengthening our values in the spirit of a university that is characterised by listening, appreciation and belonging.”
The ceremonial handover and official farewell to President Feser, who is retiring after four terms in office, will take place at the end of February.
About the person
In 2009, Prof. Dr. Julia Kormann was appointed professor of corporate communications at HNU and served as vice-president for studies and teaching from 2010 to 2025; in 2019, she took on responsibility for sustainability. She also heads the Centre for Interdisciplinary, International and Engaged Learning (ZiieL). She is active in numerous regional and national networks and honorary positions. Prior to this, she worked for over ten years in international top management consulting. She studied German language and literature, business administration and philosophy at LMU Munich, the University of Freiburg and the University of Massachusetts in Amherst (USA) and received her doctorate from the University of Duisburg on the topic of "Literature and the Fall of the Berlin Wall – East German Authors after 1989". Her research focuses on corporate communications, corporate social responsibility and sustainability.
