Dr. Elke Luise Barnstedt, former director of the Federal Consti-tutional Court, will be member of the Presidential Committee of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) from January 01, 2011. She will be the new Vice President responsible for Human Re-sources and Law. Her change to KIT also means a return to her former place of work in a new role. In 1988, Elke Barnstedt took up work in the administration of the former University of Karls-ruhe. From December 1992 to September 1994, she was deputy of the former Chancellor Dr. Gerhard Selmayr.
Elke Barnstedt now completes the KIT Presidential Committee as the sixth member. The Presidential Committee consists of Professor Eberhard Umbach and Professor Horst Hippler as Presidents and of the Vice Presidents Professor Detlef Löhe (Research and Information), Dr. Peter Fritz (Research and Innovation), and Dr. Alexander Kurz (Finance and Business Affairs). So far, Alexander Kurz has also been the acting Vice President for Human Resources. This responsibility will be assumed by Elke Barnstedt from now on.
“It is very attractive and fascinating for me to be able to work on this extraordinary project and contribute to the further success of KIT,” underlines the future Vice President. Barnstedt’s activities at KIT will start with stocktaking: “Starting my activity, I consider it important to work with, talk, and listen to people working at the departments, institutes, and facilities of KIT.” Internationality, attractiveness of the workplace for the employees, and the con-veying of essential key competences for tomorrow’s world of work will be major elements and objectives of her work, Barnstedt says.
“The change of Mrs. Barnstedt to the KIT Management is a good signal for the progress of KIT,” underline the Presidents of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Professor Eberhard Umbach and Professor Horst Hippler. “We are very pleased that we succeeded in winning this person who is highly experienced in jurisdiction and in the uni-versity sector as the sixth member of the Presidential Committee. We look forward to cooperating with Mrs. Barnstedt.”
Dr. Elke Luise Barnstedt was born on February 18, 1956 at Dern-bach (district of Montabaur). At the University of Göttingen, she studied law and received her Ph. D. in 1988 by her thesis entitled “Implementation of the Joint Market Organization in the Federal Republic of Germany”. At that time, she worked at the Institute of Agricultural Legislation of the University of Göttingen and was mem-ber of the academic staff holding the title of “Akademische Rätin” at the University of Osnabrück. In 1988, Barnstedt came to the former University of Karlsruhe and from December 1992 to September 1994, she was the deputy chancellor. After her time at the University of Karlsruhe, she was appointed Chancellor of the University of Constance in October 1994. Since January 1999, Barnstedt has been Director of the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe.
Being “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 10,000 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,800 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.