The new university management at the Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt (THWS)
The university council meeting of 20 March 2024 completed the new university management at the Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt (THWS): Professor Dr. Jan Schmitt was elected vice president for research and entrepreneurship. The term of office of the new university management starts this summer semester. The term of office is six years for the president and three years for vice presidents. Re-election is possible. The board consists of the following six members.
President Professor Dr. Jean Meyer
Professor Dr. Meyer studied Aerospace and Space Engineering at the University of the Bundeswehr in Munich and obtained the degree “Master of Business Administration and Engineering” from Munich University of Applied Sciences. For years, he worked as systems engineer for aircrafts, project member, and research associate in various Bundeswehr institutions, where he also obtained his doctorate. In 2017, he was called to the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at FHWS, now THWS. He became the faculty’s deputy dean in 2019. Professor Dr. Meyer also acted as programme director of the bachelor's degree programme Robotik/Robotics, which started in 2020. In November 2023, he was elected designated president of THWS, his six-year term of office started on 15 March 2024.
Professor Dr. Achim Förster – Vice President for Internationalisation and Teaching
Professor Dr. Förster studied law at the University of Würzburg and at the Indiana University McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis (USA). He obtained his doctorate (Dr. jur.) for his doctoral thesis on “Fair Use - Ein Systemvergleich der Schrankengeneralklausel des US-amerikanischen Copyright Act mit dem Schrankenkatalog des deutschen Urheberrechtsgesetzes” (“Fair Use – A Systems Comparison of the General Barriers Clause of the US Copyright Act with the Catalogue of Barriers of the German Copyright Act”. After his legal clerkship with the Higher Regional Court District of Bamberg, he acted as public prosecutor in Schweinfurt, as judge with the Local Court of Bad Neustadt a. d. Saale, and as judge of the Regional Court of Schweinfurt. In 2015, he was called to our higher education institution to the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences as Professor for Copyright, Media Law and Media Policy. From 2020 to 2021, he worked as Data Protection Officer. Professor Dr. Förster has acted as vice president since October 2021.
Professor Martin Naumann – Vice President for Sustainability and Infrastructure
Professor Naumann studied Architecture at the University of Kaiserslautern and at the University College Dublin (Ireland). He then worked as research associate with the Institute of Urban Planning and Design at the University of Stuttgart. In 1999, he founded blauwert Medienarchitekturen. From 2000 to 2008, he worked as artistic assistant at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart and, at the same time, worked with naumannarchitektur. After several lectureships at various higher education institutions, he was called to our higher education institution to the Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering as Professor for Design and Theory of Architecture. From 2019 to 2022 he acted as the faculty’s dean of studies. Since 2021, he has been committed to his work at the ASAP Institut für nachhaltige und klimagerechte Architektur in Würzburg as one of the founders. He became a member of the university management in 2022.
Professor Dr. Kristin Weber – Vice President for Digitalisation
Prof. Dr. Weber studied Business Information Systems at Leipzig University and Jönköping International Business School (Sweden) In 2009, she completed her doctorate at the Competence Centre for Corporate Data Quality at the University of St. Gallen on the topic “Data Governance-Referenzmodell – Organisatorische Gestaltung des unternehmensweiten Datenqualitätsmanagements“ (“Data Governance Reference Model – Organisational Design of Company-Wide Data Quality Management”) She worked as a senior consultant in the field of master data services for several years. In 2012, she was called to the Faculty of Computer Science and Business Information Systems of our higher education institution. Her focus areas are information and data management, IT governance, and information security management. Before joining the university management as vice president in summer semester 2024, she had acted as programme director of Business Information Systems, and Information Security Officer of THWS.
Professor Dr. Jan Schmitt – Vice President for Research and Entrepreneurship
Professor Dr. Schmitt studied Business and Engineering, specialising in Product and Systems Technology at Technische Universität Braunschweig and obtained his doctorate at the Institute of Machine Tools and Production Technology at TU Braunschweig on the topic of “Untersuchungen zum Herstellungsprozess des Elektrode-Separator-Verbunds für Lithium-Ionen Batteriezellen“ (“Examinations of the manufacturing process of the electrode-separator bond for lithium ion battery cells”). He then worked for several years as product manager in development and large-scale production of electric engines with Vorwerk Elektrowerken GmbH & Co KG before he was called to our higher education institution in 2018. There, he worked as Research Professor for “Process Management in Digital Production” at the Faculty of Business and Engineering. From 2020 to 2023, he was head of the cross-faculty institute Institute of Digital Engineering (IDEE). In summer semester 2024, Schmitt was elected vice president.
Stefan Hartmann – Chancellor
After completing his studies in Business Administration and Mathematics at the University of Würzburg and his MBA in Business Administration at the University at Albany, State University of New York (USA), Stefan Hartmann worked as consultant, manager, procurator, and CEO for various IT consulting firms for several years. In 2013, Hartmann took on the management of the Department of Public Affairs and Communications at THWS. He was in charge of quality assurance, and supported the university management in the area of university development. In 2018, he was appointed chancellor of our higher education institution.
Press contact:
Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt
Angela Kreipl
Münzstr. 12
97070 Würzburg
+49 931 3511-8354
