University of Tübingen Welcomes Samuel Wagner as New Vice Rector
The Rectorate of the University of Tübingen will be strengthened by a new fourth Vice-Rector as the First General Representative of the Rector and in the area of Sustainable Development: The Senate elected Professor Samuel Wagner to the new office on Thursday, July 25, 2024, with 30 out of 34 votes. Professor Samuel Wagner will serve as part-time Vice-Rector in his main role for three years from September 1, 2024.
Samuel Wagner has been Professor of Infection Biology at the Interfaculty Institute of Microbiology and Infection Medicine since 2012 and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine since 2020. He studied human biology at the University of Marburg and biomedicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. After completing his doctorate in biochemistry at the University of Stockholm, Wagner went to Yale University as a postdoctoral fellow. In 2012 he was appointed junior professor and in 2018 professor of infection biology at the University of Tübingen. Since 2019 he has been a board member of the Cluster of Excellence “Control of Microorganisms to Combat Infections”.
As the new Vice Rector, Wagner will support Rector Professor Karla Pollmann in her diverse official and management functions, including in the upcoming Excellence Strategy. He will help to intensify networking within the university and to stay in touch with all of its groups and areas. One of the projects is the university’s anniversary in 2027. “It is not only important to me to keep the University of Tübingen on the road to success in the Excellence Strategy, but also to develop success across all subjects and areas. The university must become even more agile and use a clear strategy to retain the best minds in the long term,” said Wagner.
In his thematic field, sustainable development, he would like to build on the existing structures at the International Center for Ethics in the Sciences and various working groups and give the topic more weight, for example vis-à-vis the city of Tübingen. “The first step is to develop an overarching strategy, set goals, take stock and introduce reporting,” said Wagner, outlining the path. Working more efficiently in a way that conserves resources should become a focus of the university, and it should also have an impact on society. “We are not alone in this task: strong local partners include the University Hospital and the Max Planck Society, and best practice examples can be found, for example, in the university association of research-strong universities German U15,” said the new vice-rector.