The new professorship will be based in the Business Administration department and co-funded by the Rectorate and the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics. Corinna, Baroness von Ullmann, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the van Meeteren Foundation, and President Professor Dr Anja Steinbeck signed the Endowment Agreement on 6 May.
In May 2016, a donation of two million euros from the honorary citizen of Düsseldorf Udo van Meeteren enabled the launch of the innovative Art Mediation and Cultural Management master’s degree programme by providing core funding for a professorship in the Department of Art History and an Academic Councillor position in the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics. The interdisciplinary programme (Master of Arts) runs for four semesters, combining art and business administration in a practical manner. It is aimed at graduates with bachelor’s degrees in Art History, Business Administration or related subjects and prepares them for executive positions in the field of arts and culture. This study programme, which is unique in Germany, has proven a real success story.
“Udo van Meeteren’s aim was always to equip those from the arts field with business know-how and those from the field of business with the ability to think artistically – to enable both disciplines to communicate with each other better and learn from each other. This is why the master’s study programme is supported by the Faculty of Arts and Humanities as well as the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics. With the new endowment professorship, we are now creating a better balance between teaching and research in humanities and business administration,” explains Baroness von Ullmann.
President Steinbeck states: “I would like to extend my warmest thanks to the van Meeteren Foundation for this generous commitment. The memory of Udo van Meeteren lives on in his extensive support for our University, both during his life and beyond his death.”
The funding totals three million euros, with the van Meeteren Foundation, HHU and its Faculty of Business Administration and Economics each contributing one third of the amount. This funding secures a professorship in Business Administration, esp. Cultural Management for a period of 15 years and also provides seed funding for a member of academic staff for the first five years. This extended period gives the Faculty planning certainty, while securing the quality and attractiveness of the inter-faculty offering on a long-term basis.
“We are thus providing a lasting boost for this high-profile study programme and ensuring it is fit for the future. The new professorship enables us to provide students of the master’s degree programme with comprehensive support and even more tailored business expertise,” says Professor Dr Stefan Süß, Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics at HHU.
The long-standing support for HHU provided by Honorary Senator Udo van Meeteren has always been diverse, for example: With the Haus der Universität (“University House”) on Schadowplatz in the city centre, which opened in 2013, he made a key contribution to raising the profile of the University in the city and bringing it physically closer to Düsseldorf society. The concept of the “Bürgeruniversität” (Citizens’ University), which plays a formative role at HHU, began here. He was also involved in the initiation of the “Studium Universale” (“General Studies”) programme, which follows similar principles and offers numerous students and citizens the opportunity to discover and learn new things. On the occasion of his 95th birthday in 2021, Udo van Meeteren donated 95 German National Scholarships to HHU for a period of three years. The German National Scholarship at HHU supports high-achieving students from all subjects. Private donors like Udo van Meeteren play a key role in this programme, which is aimed at talented students.