Sep 01, 2026
Prof. Edeltraud Günther returns to the TU Dresden
After eight years as director of the Dresden Institute of the United Nations University (UNU) , Prof. Dr. Edeltraud Günther is returning to TU Dresden. Effective September 1, 2026, she will resume her Chair in Business Administration—with a focus on sustainability management and environmental accounting—at the Faculty of Business and Economics.
For eight years, Prof. Dr. Edeltraud Günther has played a key role in shaping the development of the Dresden Institute of the United Nations University. Her term as director of the UNU Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES), which now operates under the name UNU Resource Nexus, will end on August 31, 2026. On September 1, 2026, she will return to TU Dresden and resume her Chair at the Faculty of Business and Economics.
When she moved to the UNU in 2018, Günther had put her work at TU Dresden on hold for the duration of her term as director. During this time, she devoted herself in particular to the international advancement of the Resource Nexus approach, which focuses on the interactions between natural resources such as water, soil, energy, and other resources. Under her leadership, UNU-FLORES developed into an internationally recognized center for research, education, and policy advice on the sustainable and integrated management of resources. Her eight-year tenure was honored at a farewell event held at the Kulturpalast in Dresden in July 2026.
At TU Dresden, Edeltraud Günther will once again contribute her many years of expertise in sustainability management, environmental assessment, and eco-economic corporate management to research and teaching. The Chair she heads focuses, among other things, on environmental performance, value-oriented management, and sustainable corporate governance.
Her return also offers an opportunity to further strengthen the ties that have grown in recent years between TU Dresden, the United Nations University, and the international sustainability research community. Edeltraud Günther remains closely connected to Dresden’s sustainability research community. Among other roles, she serves on the board of the Center for Sustainability Assessment and Policy (PRISMA).
Edeltraud Günther’s return to TU Dresden also gives the faculty an opportunity to express its heartfelt thanks to Prof. Remmer Sassen for his many years of serving as Deputy Head of Chair. Remmer Sassen had taken over as Deputy Head of Chair in October 2019. One year later, in October 2020, he was appointed to the Chair of Business Administration, esp. Environmental Management, at IHI Zittau, a position he has held ever since. Remmer Sassen remains connected to the faculty through the newly established Research Group on Sustainability and Biodiversity Management.