In today’s meeting, the University Board, by unanimous vote, elected Professor Rupert Sausgruber as WU’s new Rector for a four-year period, starting October 1, 2023. He will succeed Edeltraud Hanappi-Egger, the first woman to lead WU, who had previously ruled out a third term of office.

The University Board believes that as a renowned researcher with excellent management skills and strategic vision, Professor Rupert Sausgruber has everything it takes to lead the university in the future. “His expertise in planning and leadership will help him to successfully lead WU in the coming years. Rupert Sausgruber will focus on fostering WU’s scientific quality by investing in its potential, thus helping WU to secure its place among the best universities of economics and business in the world. Knowing that an agile and open university will attract international students and researchers, Professor Rupert Sausgruber, among other things, aims on using the Digital Transformation to promote internationalization. His plan to make third mission activities more visible and thus strengthen WU’s role as an engine of innovation has left a positive impression with us. In his new role as WU Rector, Rupert Sausgruber will focus on maintaining processes that have proven successful at WU while changing outdated ones. With his extensive experience in research, Rupert Sausgruber will promote sustainable research and teaching and further develop academic commitment for our society”, Cattina Leitner, Chair of the University Board, said about the election result.

The University Board elected the new Rector on the basis of a shortlist of three candidates drawn up by the Search Committee and approved by the WU Senate on November 15. Cattina Leitner: “All three candidates were highly qualified. On behalf of entire the University Board, I would like to express my gratitude to all those who contributed to the professionally executed and thorough selection process, particularly the members of the Search Committee and the WU Senate first chaired by Christian Riegler and, since October 2022 led by Senate Chair Tina Wakolbinger, as well as the Equal Opportunities Committee chaired by Charlotte Khan “.

About Rupert Sausgruber

Rupert Sausgruber (54) habilitated at the University of Innsbruck in 2005, where he worked as associate professor at the Institute of Public Finance. After spending several research stays abroad, among others at the University of Copenhagen, the Max Planck in Jena, the “Economic Science Laboratory” at the University of Arizona and the “Office of Tax Policy Research“ at the University of Michigan, he was appointed Professor for Public Economics at WU in 2013. Since 2018, he has been head of the Department of Economics. His research examines how new developments in behavioral economics advance our knowledge and understanding of public economics, including areas such as taxation, redistribution, cooperation, voting, education, and work incentives. His research results have been published in numerous renowned international journals.