Helmut K. Anheier confirmed as President of the Hertie School

Berlin, 5. September 2014 – The sociologist Prof. Helmut K. Anheier will be heading up the Hertie School together with Managing Director Anna Herken for another 3 years. In accordance with international conventions, Anheier will hold the title of President in future while functioning as Dean (Academic Director) of the school, a position he has already filled since 2009. His new tenure begins today (5. September) along with the start of the 2014/15 academic year. “The Hertie School has developed excellently under the leadership of Helmut K. Anheier. The study programmes as well as research projects have exceeded our highest expectations. On behalf of the supervisory board and the Hertie Foundation, we look forward to our future partnership with him,” said Frank-J. Weise, Chairman of the Board of the Hertie Foundation and of the Federal Employment Agency.

To mark the beginning of the academic year 2014/15, Achim Steiner, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), addressed students in an opening speech. His speech emphasised the need to develop governance models which combat global environmental challenges. "From energy to food security, from unemployment to resource scarcity, the drivers of change are evident and increasingly linked to environmental change. This not only requires a new economic policy paradigm but also a 'new environmentalism'".

The Hertie School faculty has been strengthened by the addition of a new Professor of Governance of Energy and Infrastructure, Genia Kostka. Kostka comes from the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, where, as an expert on Asia, she worked as Assistant Professor in Chinese Business Studies. She will be focussing on global governance challenges in the Energy and Infrastructure Sector. The new professorship was endowed by the Aichtal-based Karl Schlecht Stiftung (KSG).

Over 230 students from 45 countries have begun their studies as the Hertie School this week – more than ever before. 144 of them have registered for the Master of Public Policy (MPP), which they will complete over the next two years. 45 of the students have come for a semester or year within the framework of other international exchange programmes to Berlin. 13 young, up and coming researchers have likewise joined the doctoral programme. The Executive Master programme has received 32 new participants, while 25 of its graduates have received their diplomas.

At the start of the new academic year, the Hertie School’s Executive Education study programme – formerly known as the Executive Master of Public Management – will be relaunched as the Executive Master of Public Administration – a parallel degree to the Master of Public Administration (MPA). The programme has been renamed due to its increasing international appeal: Over half of the participants work outside Germany. The MPA is an internationally accepted degree which is recognised by employers worldwide, and which is awarded by renowned partner universities including the London School of Economics and Political Science and Columbia University in New York. The content of the highly successful degree, however, remains unchanged.

Photos and further information about the Hertie School are available from the school’s press office at pressoffice[at]hertie-school[dot]org.