Rector

Ada Pellert (*1962) studied Business Administration at the University of Graz and the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, where she received her doctorate in 1987. In 1998, she completed her habilitation at the University of Klagenfurt in the field of Organisational Development, with a focus on scientific and educational institutions.

In the period from 1998 to 2005, she served as Associate Professor at the University of Klagenfurt, where she worked in the Department of Higher Education Research. In 1999, Ada Pellert was appointed Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, Staff Development and the Advancement of Women at the University of Graz, a position she held until 2003.

In the years from 2005 to 2008 she held the position of full professor for Further Education Research and Educational Management at the Danube University Krems, where she also served as the Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, Further Education and Structural Matters. Between 2009 and 2015, she took on the role of founding president of the German University for Professional Studies in Berlin, where she also served as a professor of Organisational Development and Education Management.

From 2016, Ada Pellert served as Rector of the FernUniversität Hagen. Upon completion of her first term in office, she was unanimously re-elected for the term of office from 2022 to 2026.

Ada Pellert was a member of the German government’s Digital Council from 2018 to 2021 and President of the Carl Benz Academy in Beijing from 2011 to 2016. From 2016 to 2023, she also chaired the board of the ‘Digital University NRW’ cooperation platform and she has been Vice President of the EADTU – European Association of Distance Teaching Universities – since 2023.

Ada Pellert took office as Rector of the University of Klagenfurt in December 2024.