University Council

Prof. Dr. Claudia Breger studied German literature at Freie Universität Berlin and Washington University, St. Louis (USA). She completed her doctoral degree and habilitation at Humboldt Universität Berlin and worked at several other German universities before then becoming Assistant Professor and later Associate Professor of Germanic Studies at Indiana University, in Bloomington, USA, where she was appointed Professor for the subject in 2013. In addition, she was Head of the Department of Gender Studies from 2012 to 2015. In 2017, she was appointed Villard Professor for German and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, NYC. She has received numerous awards as a researcher, teacher and mentor. Her list of publications and lectures is remarkable. Her extensive international experience in the research landscape as well as her knowledge in the field of gender studies are a valuable asset to FAU.

Dr. rer. nat. Roland Busch, born in 1964, is an alumnus of FAU. He studied physics here and at the University of Grenoble. He started his career in 1994 at Siemens AG, as a project manager at the Global Research Department, before he moved to the Strategic Planning department in the Automotive Division in Regensburg in 1995. He held several other leading positions in various departments and regions within Siemens. Dr. Roland Busch became a member of the Managing Board at Siemens AG in 2011. He was initially responsible for the Infrastructure and Cities sector, before. being appointed Chief Technology Officer, in charge of Research and Development. Subsequently, he was named Deputy CEO. Since February 2021, Dr. Busch has been the President and CEO of Siemens AG. Dr. Busch represents sciences and engineering at FAU, and his long and varied experience in a major international company makes him a particularly valued advisor for FAU.

Jetta Frost has been a Vice President of Universität Hamburg since 2013 and is responsible for developing and establishing knowledge exchange as the university’s third key performance area, and encouraging the exchange of knowledge in society, industry, politics and culture. Her area of responsibility also includes strategic developments in the area of academic staff, in particular academic career paths and equal opportunities to encourage gender equality, diversity and balancing a career and family commitments. She was the founding director of the Center for a Sustainable University.

Since 2005, she has been a professor of Organization and Corporate Management at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences. She completed her academic training at the University of Zurich. Research in her area focuses on the management of structures and processes, innovative organization forms and practical organizational design as well as university governance in multiple competitions.

As the chairperson of the Bundesbericht Wissenschaftlicher Nachwuchs (Consortium for the National Report on Junior Scholars, BuWiN) and a member of the supervisory board of DZHW (German Center for Higher Education Research and Science Studies) and Hamburg Innovation GmbH, she contributes her expertise in developments in academic policymaking for governance of and in universities, equality and diversity, and sustainability to the FAU University Council.

Arthur Höld studied Business Administration and Advertising Management at Pforzheim University. He began his career at adidas in Herzogenaurach in 1998, moving from Bartle Bogle Hegarty in London, where he started his career as an advertising account manager. As the Managing Director for Europe, he successfully restructured the business of both adidas and Reebok, driving the growth of the market in the process. In his role as SVP Brand Strategy and Business Development in the global division, he established and consolidated several essential brand functions. His success was recognized, for example, by being awarded the Grand Prix Cannes in 2015 for the “Campaign of the year” for Originals. Most recently, he was the Managing Director for EMEA (Europa, Middle East, Asia), the largest market within adidas, where he strategically directed and promoted the company’s sustainable growth, before taking on his current role as Executive Board Member for Global Sales in April 2023. Höld is a keen athlete. He has won Bavarian competitions for javelin and decathlon and has previously worked as a ski instructor. Outside of his corporate job, he plays an active role in society and is a member of the church council in Nuremberg.

Höld represents FAU’s involvement with companies in the region and its regional, national and international contacts to global players in industry.

Dagmar Iber studied Biochemistry in Regensburg and completed a Master’s degree in Immunology in Cambridge and a Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics at Oxford, before completing a doctoral degree in each of the disciplines. From 2003-2006, she held a Junior Research Fellowship at St John’s College at the University of Oxford. After that, she was appointed as a lecturer (2006-2007) and then an honorary lecturer (2007-2010) at the Department of Mathematics at Imperial College London. After a year as an oil option trader with Barclays Capital, she moved in 2008 to ETH Zürich, where she has since worked as a professor of Computational Biology (tenure 2014). Since 2009, she has been a member of the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics. Her research focuses on investigating and gaining an understanding of mechanisms of embryonic development and principles of self-organization using data-based, mechanistic mathematic models. In addition to her impressive research and teaching portfolio, she is responsible for a number of other tasks relating to managing university affairs. She is currently the President of the University Assembly at ETH Zürich.

After studying Financial and Business Mathematics at TU Munich, Harald Rosenberger worked in various positions at Münchener Rück/Munich Re including Executive Client Manager non-life CEE/SEE, Client Manager CEE/SEE non-life and Senior Strategy Consultant, before he was appointed Global Head of Innovation. During this time, he underwent training as an actuary with the German Association of Actuaries (DAV), and completed a Master of Business Administration in Insurance Management at Leipzig University. He transferred to NÜRNBERGER Versicherung in 2017, and completed a Master of Digital Business Administration (MDBA) from FAU alongside his regular job. His first position was as a member of the board of NÜRNBERGER Leben. Just one year later, he was appointed CEO of the life insurance company. In 2019, Rosenberger was appointed to the executive board of the group. He has since been responsible for the areas of life and health insurance. He has been the CEO of NÜRNBERGER Versicherung since 2023.

Harald Rosenberger represents the strength of the insurance industry in the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region and its strong ties to FAU.

Klaus Rosenfeld began his career with an apprenticeship as a banker before studying Business Administration and Economics at the University of Münster. After various management positions, he was appointed to the board of the Dresdener Bank AG in 2002, where he was responsible for the areas of finance and controlling, compliance and the bank’s investments. In March 2009, Rosenfeld joined the Schaeffler Group as CFO. In this position, he implemented a number of complex transactions aimed at changing the focus of the company and its capital structure. In June 2014, he was appointed the CEO of the group. One of the first major initiatives under his leadership was the initial public offering of Schaeffler AG in 2015. For several years, Rosenfeld has been leading the technological shift in the company from being a traditional supplier to becoming an innovative technology corporation, in particular in future-oriented and sustainable sectors such as electromobility, renewable energies, robotics and hydrogen. He is currently contributing his wide-ranging expertise as a member of the supervisory board and member of the audit committee of Continental AG, a member of the supervisory board of Vitesco Technologies AG and a member of the Presidential Board of the Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie e.V. (Federation of German Industries, BDI). Rosenfeld represents FAU’s involvement with companies in the region and its regional, national and international contacts to global players in industry.

Prof. Dr. iur. Beate Rudolf has been the Director of the German Institute for Human Rights since January 1, 2010. Previously, she was a junior professor for public law and equality law at the School of Law at Freie Universität Berlin for six years and led the sub-project ‘Requirements under international law for governance in weak and failing states’ as part of the collaborative research center ‘Governance in areas of limited statehood’. Her research focuses on fundamental and human rights and principles of state structures as set out in international law, European law and German constitutional law as well as taking a comparative law approach. In addition to more than 20 years of experience in research and teaching in these areas (at the universities of Bonn, Düsseldorf, Tulane Law School in New Orleans and Freie Universität Berlin), she has practical experience of working in human rights, for example during her legal training at the Human Rights Directorate at the Council of Europe, as a representative of complainants at the European Court of Human Rights and many years voluntary work within the Deutsche Juristinnenbund (German Women Lawyers Association) and the European Women Lawyers Association, where she was vice president until the end of 2011. From 2016 to 2019 she was the head of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI).

Luc Sels, born in 1967 in Merksem, Belgium, is rector of KU Leuven. His four year term of office as rector began on August 1, 2017. He began working at KU Leuven in 1996 as an assistant professor and from 2004 as a professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business. He was elected dean in 2008, and he was re-elected in 2013 for a second term of office lasting another four years. From 2013 onwards he was an adviser to the rector for integration at KU Leuven. Luc Sels is honorary professor at Cardiff University and a research associate at Vlerick Business School.

His most important research interests include the areas of labor market projections, active labor market policy, talent management, employee differentiation and cooperative partnerships. He is holder of the Randstad Chair of Employer Branding, the Chair of Belgian Business Champions of the Belgian company association VBO FEB and the CERA-Boerenbond Chair of Cooperative Entrepreneurship. Luc Sels carries out research in labor market policy and is a political adviser. He represents the Employment Minister in the Belgian High Council for Employment (Hoge Raad voor de Werkgelegenheid) and heads the Centre of Expertise for Labour Market Monitoring (CELM), which advises the Flemish government in matters of labour market policy.

With Prof. Dr. Luc Sels, FAU is intensifying its links to prestigious international universities, as well as benefiting from his experience as the rector of the most innovative university in Europe.

After studying Computer Science and Mathematics in the USA, and Mechanical Engineering at TU Darmstadt, Oliver Zipse started working at BMW AG as a trainee in the area of development, technical planning and production in 1991. One year later, he was appointed lead engineer for technological development, before taking on several management positions in Germany and abroad. During this time, he gained an Executive MBA qualification at WHU Koblenz and the Kellogg School of Management, Evanston/USA. In 2015, he was appointed to the Executive Board of BMW AG for the area of production and has been the CEO of BMW AG since August 2019. He gained valuable experience of taking on responsibility for an international association in his position as the President of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) in 2021 and 2022. In addition, he is the deputy chair of the Senate of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft. The education of young people is a topic that is close to his heart, and he enjoys the opportunity to pass on his experience as an honorary professor at TU Munich.