Rector (FH) FH-Prof. Dr mont. Corinna Engelhardt-Nowitzki has been Scientific Director alongside Martin Payer, the Financial Managing Director of FH JOANNEUM, since May 2023. She has also held the position of Academic Director since January 2024. As Rector (FH), she will continue to drive forward the strategy of the ‘University of the Future FH JOANNEUM’: ‘As a university of the future, we put students at the centre of everything we do. Our aim is to create an inspiring learning environment that responds to needs and paves the way for personal and academic growth. Through targeted portfolio optimisation and the creation of synergies, we ensure a diverse and high-quality educational offering that meets the demands of a constantly changing world. Our content orientation is based on five key factors that represent the central challenges of our time: Defossilisation, digitalisation, demographics, democracy and didactics.’ Corinna Engelhardt-Nowitzki studied business administration and obtained her doctorate in information logistics at the University of Leoben, where she also worked as a university professor. Before moving to FH JOANNEUM, she headed the Department of Industrial Engineering at FH Technikum Wien.
Martina König, Deputy Academic Director of FH JOANNEUM and Head of the Technical Documentation Master’s programme, was elected Vice Rector (FH) by the FH JOANNEUM Board. She can look back on many years of work and teaching experience in the higher education sector and her areas of research and interest include university didactics and lifelong learning. She therefore also pays particular attention to maintaining and developing the high quality of teaching and the didactic standards of FH JOANNEUM.
Martin Polaschek, Minister for Education, Science and Research, was one of the speakers at the inauguration: ‘I congratulate FH-Prof. Dr mont. Corinna Engelhardt-Nowitzki on her inauguration as Rector (FH) and I am convinced that she will successfully shape the future of FH JOANNEUM with her expertise and experience! Universities of Applied Sciences are an indispensable pillar of our higher education system and FH JOANNEUM plays a central role in practice-oriented, labour market-ready education. FH JOANNEUM remains a leading centre of education and research in Austria and Styria thanks to its application-oriented research and close cooperation with industry. I look forward to the continued successful development of FH JOANNEUM under her leadership.’
Barbara Eibinger-Miedl, Styrian State Councillor for Science and Research: ‘With Corinna Engelhardt-Nowitzki, FH JOANNEUM has a female Rector for the first time in its almost 30-year history and an experienced researcher with a high level of professional and social competence. I am therefore convinced that Corinna Engelhardt-Nowitzki will further strengthen FH JOANNEUM’s position as a centre for high-quality and practice-oriented teaching, research and development in the coming years.’
The inauguration in the FH JOANNEUM Graz Audimax was accompanied by sound and light installations created by students from the FH JOANNEUM Institute of Design and Communication. The music machine, a kind of musical robot that combines the sound of old instruments with rhythms, harmonies and elements from electronic music to create new worlds of sound, was also played live for the audience at the inauguration.