Technische Universität Dresden (TUD) has appointed Prof. Andreas Pinkwart to head the Chair of Innovation and Technology Management – newly created as part of the Excellence Strategy – within the Faculty of Business and Economics. On March 1, the former Minister of Science and Economy for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia will move to Dresden from the University of Siegen, where he previously held the Chair of Digital Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management. For Andreas Pinkwart, the appointment to TUD is also a return to Saxony. From 2011 to 2017, he served as Rector of the Leipzig Graduate School of Management (HHL), where he also already led a Chair of Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship. For many years now, HHL has been one of the top entrepreneurial universities in Germany.

Now, Andreas Pinkwart will bring his proven expertise in innovation management and entrepreneurship to TU Dresden, where he will contribute to the expansion of technology transfer. Prof. Pinkwart combines the necessary qualifications in an unconventional way: In all of his roles – from scientist to rector to politician – he has always advanced innovation and fostered spin-off companies.

“Welcoming Andreas Pinkwart to the university means acquiring an honored and well-connected innovation expert. He is the perfect match!” Prof. Ursula Staudinger, Rector of TUD, says with praise. “With his extraordinary experience and achievements at the intersection of science, commerce and politics, he will lift innovation management and technology transfer at our university to a new level.”

“It is a great honor and motivation all at once to be appointed to this Chair of Excellence at TUD – one of the greatest universities of our country,” comments Prof. Andreas Pinkwart. “I am delighted to return to Saxony, following my time at Leipzig Graduate School of Management, a strong entrepreneurial institution, and the prosperous SpinLab accelerator, and I will work passionately to continue TUD’s development into a dynamic powerhouse of innovation in a network of formidable partners.”

CV:
Prof. Andreas Pinkwart, 62 years old, has been active in academia since the late 1980s. Since 1994, he has been a professor of business and economics, initially at the Fachhochschule für öffentliche Verwaltung (University of Applied Science for Public Administration) in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and since 1998 at the University of Siegen. From 2005 to 2010, the Free Democratic Party member served as Minister of Innovation, Science, Research and Technology and Deputy Minister President of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. During his term in office, the Act on the Autonomy of Institutions of Higher Education in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia was introduced. From 2011 to 2017, he fulfilled the role of Rector at HHL Leipzig. In 2017, he returned to state politics in NRW, this time as Minister for Economy, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy. In addition, Prof. Pinkwart held a range of other offices in the domains of science, economy and politics. He was a member of the German Council of Science and Humanities, Chair of the Conference of Ministers of Economy, member of the DAAD Board of Trustees and member of the oversight and advisory committees of multiple companies and non-university research institutions.

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