Members of the University Council

Countess Carola von Schmettow, born 1964, studied mathematics at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and music at the Robert Schumann Conservatory. After her studies, she joined HSBC, working in the Capital Markets Division and Asset Management. She was appointed member of the Management Board of the bank in 2004. From 2015 to 2021, she was CEO of HSBC Germany. She was also member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Association of German Banks (Bundesverband Deutscher Banken), Deputy Chair of the Exchange Council of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and Chair of the Exchange Council of Eurex Germany. She has held supervisory board seats at thyssenkrupp AG, the BVV pension organisation for the finance industry and the DBV Winterthur civil servant health insurance association, among others.

She is member of the Supervisory Board of HSBC Continental Europe and also holds positions on the Board of Trustees of the ZEIT-Stiftung charitable foundation, the Fritz Thyssen Foundation and as Deputy Chair of the Kaiserswerther Diakonie social, welfare and health care organisation.

Dr Karl Hans Arnold, born 1962, studied economics and business administration at the universities in Nuremberg, Cologne and Munich, and gained his doctorate (Dr. phil.) at the Ruhr University Bochum. As a media manager, he began his career in 1993 at Gruner + Jahr International in Paris, assuming the role of Managing Director of the publishing house. In 1999, he became Managing Director and Editor of the magazine National Geographic France. From 2002 until mid-2011, he was Managing Partner of Rheinisch-Bergische Verlagsgesellschaft/Rheinische Post Mediengruppe and from July 2011 to March 2018, he was Chair of the Board of Directors of the company. He was also Editor of the Rheinische Post daily newspaper from December 2015 to April 2019.

Professor Dr Ricarda Bauschke-Hartung, born 1966, studied German studies and romance languages and literatures in Berlin, gaining her doctorate there in 1995 with her thesis on a work by the poet Walther von der Vogelweide. She gained her venia legendi in the subject “Medieval German Literature and Language” in 2006. Following her first professorship in Freiburg, she took up the Chair of Medieval German Literature and Language at HHU in 2008. She was also Vice President for Quality in Studies and Equal Opportunities at HHU from 2012 to 2014.

Anne-Christin Frister, born 1966, studied law. She is presiding judge at Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court, where she also heads the 3rd Cartel Panel, which is responsible for antitrust matters relating to the energy industry.

Anne-Christin Frister joined the judicial service of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in 1995. She was appointed judge at the Regional Court in 1999 and judge at the Higher Regional Court at the beginning of 2006. Until the end of 2011, she dealt with antitrust and procurement matters as a member of the 2nd Cartel and Procurement Panel at Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court. At the beginning of 2012, she moved to the 3rd Cartel Panel, which is responsible for antitrust matters in the energy industry and which deals with energy industry law proceedings relating to decisions taken by the Federal Network Agency in the electricity and gas network sector.

Anne-Christin Frister is Deputy Equal Opportunities Officer at Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court and member of the Advisory Council of the Düsseldorf Institute for Energy Law (DIER) at HHU.

Wolfgang Holzgreve, born in 1955, is Chair of the Supervisory Board of the University of Leipzig Medical Center and Head of the Healthcare Management Programme at the University of St. Gallen. 

He studied genetics at the University of California Berkeley (Master of Science 1975) and human medicine at the University of Münster, where he gained his doctorate in 1979, completed his Habilitation in 1986 and worked as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology from 1991. 

Wolfgang Holzgreve spent 14 years as a professor and Head of the Women’s Clinic at University Hospital Basel in Switzerland. From 2012 to 2024, he was Medical Director and Chair of the Board at University Hospital Bonn.

He has also served on the boards of numerous medical/scientific associations and foundations. His many awards include “Manager of the Year 2024”, the Federal Cross of Merit (1st class) and seven honorary doctorates.

Professor Dr Elisabeth Knust, born 1951, studied biology in Düsseldorf, where she also gained her doctorate in 1979. She then conducted research in Erlangen-Nuremberg and subsequently in Cologne, where she completed her habilitation in developmental biology in 1988. Following a research stay as a Heisenberg Fellow at the University of Colorado in Boulder, she was appointed as a professor in Cologne in 1990 and then took up a genetics professorship at HHU in 1996. From 2007 until her retirement in 2019, she was Director at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden. Among other roles, Professor Knust is a regular member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, a member of the Leopoldina German National Academy of Sciences and – since January 2023 – a Foreign Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA).

Klaus Pfeffer, born in 1962, is Director of the Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hospital Hygiene at HHU. He studied human medicine at Ulm University and gained his doctorate there in 1998. 

After completing his doctorate, he worked at the Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene at Ulm University and the Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene at the Technical University of Munich. From 1991 to 1993, he worked as a Research Fellow at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research in Toronto. He completed his Habilitation in medical microbiology and immunology at the Technical University of Munich in 1996.

From 1997 to 2002, Klaus Pfeffer was C3 Professor for Medical Microbiology and Molecular Infection Immunology at the Technical University of Munich, before being appointed C4 Professor for Medical Microbiology at HHU in 2002. From 2007 to 2015, he was spokesperson of DFG research group 729 “Anti-infective Effector Programmes”. He has been Head of the Manchot Graduate School “Molecules of Infection” since 2024. He is a member of various professional associations and bodies, and was awarded the DFG Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize in 2004.

Wolfgang Rohe, born in 1960, was Chair of the Executive Board of the Stiftung Mercator (Mercator Foundation) until the end of 2025. 

He studied German studies, catholic theology and pedagogy at the University of Münster, gaining his doctorate there in 1990. 

Wolfgang Rohe worked at the German Research Foundation (DFG) in Bonn for 10 years, initially – from 1992 to 2000 – in the Collaborative Research Centres department and then as Head of the Executive Board group. In 2002, he moved to the German Science and Humanities Council (Wissenschaftsrat – WR) as Head of the Research Division. From 2005, he combined this position with the role of Secretary General. 

He has acted as an expert in numerous working groups and judging panels in the areas of science policy and funding in Germany and abroad. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin (Natural History Museum), the Board of Governors of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and the Board of Trustees of the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB), among other organisations.