Prof Reese scores highly in the rectors' ranking

University of Siegen Rector Stefanie Reese was ranked 10th in this year's “2025 Rector of the Year” rankings from the German Association of University Professors and Lecturers (DHV).

Strong results in the “2025 Rector of the Year” voting for University of Siegen Rector Stefanie Reese: 84 percent of respondents gave a positive assessment when filling out the survey by the German Association of University Professors and Lecturers (DHV). The DHV conducts this survey among its members annually. All rectors with at least 30 responses were eligible for inclusion. Among that group, Reese landed at number 10.

I am very happy about this result. It's a great motivation for my future work in Siegen,” Reese commented. A total of 38 DHV members submitted assessments for her. Nearly 32 percent indicated that she was the “ideal choice” for the position of rector. 39.5 percent scored her as a “very good,” and an additional 13 percent as a “somewhat good” choice.

The top spot in the rankings remained unchanged from a year ago: Professor Manfred Bayer, rector at the TU Dortmund, claimed number one. He was followed on spots two and three by Professor Susanne Menzel-Riedl, president of the University of Osnabrück, and Professor Kai Fischbach, President of the University of Bamberg. This was a notable rise from their scores a year ago (5th and 6th, respectively).

The DHV also calls on its members each year to select a ‘Science Minister of the Year.’ In a repeat of both 2020 and 2023, Hamburg Minister of Science Katharina Fegebank earned the top spot. Second place went to Dr. Armin Willingmann, minister of science for Sachsen-Anhalt, followed by Dr. Manja Schüle, minister of science for Brandenburg. Minister of Science for Nordrhein-Westfalen Ina Brandes earned eighth place in the rankings.

3,527 members of the DHV took part in at least one of the votes. More information about the complete rankings can be found here.