Jutta Emes becomes the first woman to head the Bergakademie

For the first time in its long history, a woman is heading the Freiberg Mining Academy. The extended Senate has elected Jutta Emes as the new Rector, the university announced. She succeeds Klaus-Dieter Barbknecht, who has led the university for ten years. The 55-year-old's term of office will begin in the summer, it said. She currently holds the professorship for Marketing and Media at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.

The Bergakademie Freiberg is considered the oldest mining science university in the world. It was founded in 1765. It has been operating as a technical university since the early 1990s. Today it has almost 4,400 students.

Secret election - no information on competitors

The term of office for the new Rector is five years. Emes has leadership experience as Vice Rector and Vice President at Bauhaus University; she also temporarily headed the university from 2022 to 2023. Her election as the new rector in Freiberg was reportedly secret. The university did not want to provide any information on other candidates when asked.