With an average rating of 1.857, Prof. Dr. Susanne Menzel-Riedl achieved third place in the "Rector of the Year" poll. Around 80 percent of participants at her university rated her and her leadership as consistently good to very good.
Prof. Dr. Kai Fischbach, President of the University of Bamberg, came in first place this year. This is the 18th time that the German University Association (DHV) has presented the award. 2,940 academics took part in the vote from November 13 to December 12, 2025.
Overall, the comments are a great honor for Prof. Menzel-Riedl, who has been the best-placed university manager in Lower Saxony in the ranking for years. "What great praise!" said the Osnabrück President. "I would like to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for such positive and appreciative comments about my work and myself. I certainly don't take such a vote for granted, especially as this office sometimes involves enduring conflicts, moderating them and transforming them into viable results for everyone. How could such a voting result not be an incentive for me!"
For the ranking, the academics were asked to what extent they considered the respective incumbents to be suitable for leading the university. They were able to give their assessment on six levels from "the ideal appointment" (grade 1) to "the worst possible appointment" (grade 6). Only universities with rectors or presidents who had been in office for at least 100 days at the start of the vote and for whom at least 30 ratings were submitted were included in the evaluation. The scientific management and implementation of the ranking, which covered 48 universities, was in the hands of the Center for Evaluation and Methods at the University of Bonn. The detailed results can be found in the March issue of the magazine "Forschung & Lehre" and can be accessed at https://www.hochschulverband.de/fileadmin/redaktion/download/pdf/presse/ranking-dhv_2026.pdf.
The "Rector/President of the Year" award will be presented at the German Science Gala, which will take place on March 23, 2026 on the eve of the 76th DHV Day in Berlin.
Prof. Menzel-Riedl, Professor of Biology Didactics, has been President of Osnabrück University since 2019. In November 2022, she was also elected Chair of the Lower Saxony State University Conference. On October 1, 2026, she will move to the University of Münster as Rector, where she was elected with a convincing vote to succeed Prof. Dr. Johannes Wessels.
Further information for the media:
Dr. Oliver Schmidt, Osnabrück University
Communications and Marketing Office
oliver.schmidt@uos.de
