The current President of Hof University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jürgen Lehmann, will remain at the helm of the Upper Franconian educational institution for another year. He was confirmed today by the Hof University of Applied Sciences Council for a further six-year term of office. Lehmann has led Hof University of Applied Sciences since 2002 and is one of the longest-serving university presidents in the state.
For Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jürgen Lehmann, this is now his fifth term of office. Under his leadership, the “Green Tech” profile has been strategically anchored and consistently expanded at Hof University of Applied Sciences – with research and teaching at Hof University of Applied Sciences consistently focusing on sustainability, resource conservation and ecological innovations. Hof University of Applied Sciences also regularly records record figures in the area of research and transfer projects and has been able to increase the number of its research institutes to six. The number of students has also risen continuously to almost 4,000 and the university’s international orientation, which was introduced at an early stage, has borne fruit: In addition to a long-term focus on India, a new focus is now on Latin America, where many partnerships have recently been established. finally, in 2023 and 2024, Hof University of Applied Sciences was voted “Germany’s most popular university” by students twice in a row – not least due to its family-like character with individual and personal support.
Prof. Lehmann sees a number of challenges that Hof University of Applied Sciences will have to face in the coming years:
“In addition to the geopolitical changes that are helping to shape the university’s economic environment, as well as the local problems of a structural crisis, for example in the automotive supplier sector, and the omnipresent shortage of skilled workers, there are other challenges to overcome. Of course, this includes in particular the question of how Hof University of Applied Sciences can maintain its excellent teaching and research offering in times of less favorable financial conditions and in the face of demographic challenges,” says Lehmann.
University Council of Hof University of Applied Sciences; Image: Hof University of Applied Sciences;
But he promises:
Green Tech University Hof, which has long been committed to sustainability, will help to develop ideas for the world’s major challenges – climate change, AI use and a change in population structure.”
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jürgen Lehmann
Examples of this include the development of climate-neutral new products, support for the use of artificial intelligence, including for micro-enterprises, and the establishment of a model region “Quality of life in rural areas” in Upper Franconia. According to the re-elected university president, the latter must address and develop issues ranging from mobility and telemedicine to the supply of food using drones.
