Composition of the association board

The current board of our association consists of the following members:

  1. the board’s chairwoman: Prof. Dr. Edeltraud Vomberg (President of Hochschule Düsseldorf (University of Applied Sciences Düsseldorf))
  2. the board’s deputy chairwoman: Prof. Dr. Anja Steinbeck (President of Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf))
  3. the association’s treasurer: Gregor Berghausen (Managing Director of Industrie- und Handelskammer Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf Chamber of Industry and Commerce))
  4. Christian Zaum (Councillor of the City of Düsseldorf)
  5. Heiko Held (Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, Corporate Citizenship/Social Partnerships)
  6. Dr. Axel Fuhrmann (Managing Director of Handwerkskammer Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf Chamber of Crafts))
  7. Karsten Hundhausen (Managing Director of FOM Düsseldorf)
  8. Prof. Dr. Gerhard Dehm (Director at Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung (Max Planck Institute for Iron Research))
  9. Prof. Dr. Carl Marcus Wallenburg, (WHU Campus Düsseldor, Professor of Logistics and Service Management)

Board’s tenure of office

In a general assembly on 7 December 2020, the board was elected by the association’s members for a term of three years. According to the association’s constitution, the board currently consists of five appointed members of the board as well as four elected members of the board.

The board’s chairwoman, Prof. Vomberg, and the board’s deputy chairwoman, Prof. Steinbeck, jointly represent the association legally.

The Association‘s Management

Dr. Kai de Weldige is the association’s manager. Since March 2021, he is the operational contact person for members and interested parties. He is also responsible for tenor and direction of the association’s project work.

Project managers Keiko Ito and Katrin Schömann Hölzl handle the association’s public relations and projects such as the Innovation Semester. Together with the various workgroups, they explore and develop new project cooperations for and within our network.

Claudia Sambraus assists the other team members in their daily work.

Manager Dr. Kai de Weldige has been appointed by the association’s board after Prof. Dr. Ulrich von Alemann, the association’s founding manager, retired at the end of 2020. The team’s most prominent tasks are the management of its current members, the address and acquisition of new members, the implementation of public relations activities for the knowledge region of Düsseldorf as well as the association’s operational project management.

The association’s office at the Schadowplatz in central Düsseldorf

The association’s offices are located in the renowned Haus der Universität (House of the University) at the centrally located Schadowplatz in Düsseldorf. This is where the association’s team works, holds meetings and regularly welcomes representatives of its different member institutions.

The association’s office at the Schadowplatz (Photo: Sigurd Steinprinz)

Photo credit: Oliver Tjaden

Knowledge Region of Düsseldorf