Two new members appointed to the University Advisory Board of the University of Kassel

Dr. Christine Fuchsloch has been the first woman President of the Federal Social Court since March 2024. She studied law in Frankfurt am Main and Hamburg, where she also completed her doctorate summa cum laude on the subject of "The prohibition of indirect sex discrimination, Department, analysis and exemplary application to state vocational training funding". Her judicial career began in 1993 at the Hamburg Social Court. From 1998 to 2001, she was seconded to the Federal Constitutional Court as a research assistant. This was followed by positions at the Berlin Social Court and the Berlin-Brandenburg State Social Court. From July 2010 to February 2024, she was President of the Schleswig-Holstein State Social Court. Christine Fuchsloch was also an honorary constitutional judge for the state of Brandenburg from 2009 to 2019 and Vice President of the Schleswig-Holstein State Constitutional Court from November 2020 to July 2024. She is a long-standing member of the German Association of Women Lawyers and is currently Vice President of the German Social Court Conference.

Thomas Flügge studied German, English, philosophy and didactics at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, the Humboldt-Universität Berlin and the Freie Universität Berlin. Flügge has been an employee of the cdw Stiftung gGmbH in Kassel since November 2013 and its Managing Director since 2017. The cdw Foundation was established in 2011 by the founders and main shareholders of SMA Solar Technology AG. The history of SMA is closely linked to the University of Kassel: Three young electrical engineers founded the engineering office for system, measurement and plant technology in 1981 with former university professor Werner Kleinkauf, for which the initials SMA stand. At the cdw Foundation, Flügge manages projects in the areas of "International Cooperation" and "Regional Energy Transition". He also oversees foundation projects and collaborations.

Since 2017, he has been the 1st Chairman of deENet e.V., a competence network for decentralized energy technologies, energy efficiency and climate protection.

Background

The University Advisory Board supports the university in its development, articulates expectations in the professional world and promotes the use of scientific knowledge and artistic achievements. The University Advisory Board has a right of initiative on fundamental university matters and must approve development planning. It makes recommendations on course planning, evaluation procedures, target agreements, knowledge transfer as well as the appropriate and efficient administration and use of funds. It gives its opinion on the university's basic regulations, statement of accounts, budget planning, the establishment and discontinuation of degree programmes and the division of the university into Faculties. The University Advisory Board consists of up to ten people from business, professional practice and the fields of science and art. The members are appointed by the HMWK and half are nominated by the university and half by the ministry.