Dear students,
Dear colleagues,
I am pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Johannes Pollak has been elected as the new Rector of the University. Johannes Pollak, University Professor of Political Science and Rector of Webster Vienna Private University, will take over as Rector on August 1, 2025. Following an international call for tenders, the committee members voted unanimously for Prof. Dr. Pollak. In July 2024, the University Council and the owner company also voted unanimously in his favor. The handover of office will take place during a major graduation ceremony for the 2024/25 academic year. He will take over as Rector of the SFU for a five-year term of office.
Prof. Dr. Pollak is looking forward to working with our talented and motivated students, dedicated staff and outstanding lecturers from the four faculties to further develop the university nationally and internationally as a leading trendsetter in teaching and research.
We are delighted to welcome Johannes Pollak as our new Rector next year. We are convinced that with his extensive experience and visionary ideas he will continue and further develop the successful course of the Sigmund Freud Private University.
With best wishes for a relaxing summer!
Yours, Alfred Pritz
About Prof. Dr. Johannes Pollak
Johannes Pollak has an impressive academic and administrative career: Born in 1969 in Klosterneuburg, Lower Austria, he studied political science and philosophy at the University of Vienna. After postgraduate training at the Institute for Advanced Studies and an MSc. in Political Theory at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), he continued his academic career as a Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence and as a Leverhulme Fellow at the University of Reading and the LSE. He completed his habilitation at the University of Salzburg in 2006 and began his professional career at the Institute for European Integration of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. In 2009, he was appointed Professor of Political Science at Webster Vienna Private University. From 2010-2015 he headed the Department of Political Science at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Vienna until he was appointed Rector of Webster Vienna Private University in 2016. In addition, Prof. Dr. Pollak is a member of several scientific committees and author of numerous publications in the field of political theory and European integration.
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