President Professor Dr Steinbeck

Professor Anja Steinbeck, born 1966, studied law at the universities of Mainz and Geneva (First State Examination in 1990, Second State Examination in 1993). She also completed her doctorate (1992) and Habilitation (1999) at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz under the supervision of Professor Dr Walther Hadding. Her main research interests are business law, commercial and corporate law, competition law and intellectual property rights.

In 2001, she was appointed to the Chair for Civil Law, Commercial and Company Law and Industrial Property Rights at the University of Cologne. From 2004, she also headed its Institute for Industrial Property Protection and Copyright Law. From 2011 to 2014, she was Vice-Rector for Planning, Finance and Gender Equality at the University of Cologne.

From October 2004 to October 2014, Professor Steinbeck worked part-time as a judge in the 6th Civil Senate (responsible for intellectual property issues) at Cologne Higher Regional Court in parallel with her academic career. She has been President of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf since November 2014, gaining re-election in summer 2019 and summer 2022. The CHE Centre for Higher Education and the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit” honoured Professor Steinbeck as “University Manager of the Year” in 2020.

Professor Anja Steinbeck is married and has two adult children.