Prof. Hoch achieved the best rating with a grade of 1.55. The majority of those surveyed attested to the biologist's "cooperative, co-productive, communicative, consensual" approach. Prof. Dr. Stephan Dabbert, Rector of the University of Hohenheim and the 2016 winner, follows very close behind Hoch with a grade of 1.56. In third and fourth place are the Rector of the University of Münster and winner of 2018, Prof. Dr. Johannes Wessels, and the President of the University of Bayreuth, Prof. Dr. Stefan Leible, with a grade of 1.70 and 1.89 respectively. Fifth place goes to the Rector of RWTH Aachen University, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Rüdiger, with a grade of 1.90.
For the ranking, the scientists were asked to what extent they consider the respective office holders to be suitable for managing the university. They were able to give their evaluation, which was based on school grades, at six levels from "ideal occupation" (grade 1) to "worst conceivable occupation" (grade 6). On average, just under 70 percent of those surveyed assessed their own university management predominantly positively. More than a quarter (26 percent) consider their respective leadership personality to be the "ideal appointment". In Bonn, even more than two thirds of the respondents, namely 68.8 percent, gave Rector Hoch this top rating.
Averaged over all participants, the top German universities received the average mark "satisfactory plus" (2.72). Even though this year's winner, Prof. Hoch, is celebrated as the "Creator of Excellence" after the success of the University of Bonn in the Excellence Strategy, success or failure in the prestige competition does not play a decisive role in most evaluations, according to the DHV.
Only universities with leading personalities who had been in office for at least 100 days at the beginning of the voting and for whom at least 30 evaluations were submitted were included in the evaluation. The scientific management and implementation of the ranking, which ultimately covered 57 universities, was in the hands of the Center for Evaluation and Methods at the University of Bonn. The detailed result can be found in the March issue of the magazine "Forschung & Lehre".
The prize "President/Rector of the Year", donated by Santander Universities in cooperation with the DHV, will be awarded at the Gala of German Science, which will take place in Berlin on April 6th, 2020 on the eve of the 70th DHV Day. With the prize money of 10,000 euros, the prize winner is to finance a university-related project.
Rector Hoch is delighted with the recognition that the award gives him: "I am really very pleased about this personal award and I am very grateful for it. The confidence expressed here by the scientists, especially the researchers and lecturers of the University of Bonn, gives me great support for my work in order to tackle the challenges of the future".
The Chairman of the University Council, Prof. Dr. Dieter Engels, congratulated Prof. Hoch on the outstanding honoring: "The University of Bonn has a lot to thank Michael Hoch for, above all for the new status as a University of Excellence. The fact that a new spirit is wafting through the university today is largely thanks to the Rector. The members of the DHV have confirmed this in an impressive way."
Further photos can be found here:
https://www.uni-bonn.de/einrichtungen/rektorat/1_rektor/fotos-des-rektors