The university greets 340 new students and awards its first honorary doctorates.
Berlin, 6 September 2024. After a vibrant year of events commemorating the Hertie School’s 20th anniversary, Hertie School President Cornelia Woll officially opened the 2024-2025 Academic Year. The university welcomed about 340 new students to its four master’s programmes and 16 new PhD candidates, as well as returning second-year master’s and doctoral students already enrolled at the university. The event also included the conferment of the university’s first-ever honorary doctorates.
In her opening speech, President Woll laid out her aim in the new academic year to intensify the university’s interdisciplinary and solutions-driven discussion on the state of democracy today.
“As we enter this new academic year, all of us are concerned about the political events that illustrate how deeply liberal democracy itself is now being challenged – not only in various places around the world, but also at our very front door,” she said, referring to the recent elections in the German states of Saxony and Thuringia. “It is all the more important to promote open and liberal democratic values with an international and interdisciplinary education that bridges social science theory and policy practice, and to fully live up to our motto ‘Understand today. Shape tomorrow.’”
Hertie School bestows its first honorary doctorates
A special part of this year’s opening event was the conferment of the Hertie School’s first honorary doctorates upon Renate Mayntz and Fritz Scharpf, both Emeriti Directors at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG) in Cologne. (Scharpf was unfortunately unable to attend in person.) Professor Kai Wegrich held the laudation, in which he underscored the two scholars’ pioneering work on policy change and political, economic and social developments. Mayntz and Scharpf’s work, Wegrich noted, was a major inspiration for the Hertie School's research and curriculum.
The conferment was followed by a panel discussion on “The governability of public life”, in which Mayntz, President Woll and Hertie School faculty members discussed the difficulty of managing complex systems and the importance of considering regions beyond the European continent.
A stimulating year of events ahead
Following the Hertie Futures Forum series the university hosted as part of its 20th-anniversary celebrations, the Hertie School is proud to announce a new series of events pegged to the theme of the “State of Democracy”. The first of these is the launch event for Dean of Executive Education Andrea Römmele's new book, Demokratie Neu Denken, which takes place on 18 September.
In addition to this series, the Hertie School is also proud to welcome some very special guests this year. On 17 September, former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger will receive an honorary doctorate and give a keynote speech. German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck will hold the laudation.
Expanded expertise and new Dean of Research and Faculty
This year the Hertie School welcomes two new professors to its faculty. Johanna Arlinghaus joined the university this summer as Assistant Professor of Economics and Sustainability, bringing her insights on fiscal and climate policy to the Centre for Sustainability. Tobias Bunde, Director of Research and Policy at the Munich Security Conference, now takes on the role of Professor of International Security at the Centre for International Security.
The start of the academic year also sees Mark Hallerberg take over from Kai Wegrich as Dean of Research and Faculty. Having previously held this position and also served as Acting President following the death of President Henrik Enderlein, Hallerberg brings a wealth of experience to the position. Wegrich will continue in his role as Professor of Public Administration and Public Policy.
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