Edeltraud Hanappi-Egger

Edeltraud Hanappi-Egger completed her doctorate in information technologies at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna) in 1990. She has been a visiting researcher in Stockholm, Toronto, and Oslo, among others, and was the recipient of an Austrian Academy of Sciences grant from 1993 to 1996. In 1996, she received her venia docendi in applied information technologies from TU Vienna, where she worked as an associate professor until 2001. She has been Professor for Gender & Diversity in Organizations at WU since 2002. Hanappi-Egger has published over 350 papers on gender and diversity in organizations, has spent time at numerous international research institutions (most recently at LSE and McGill University), and previously held an EU Jean Monnet Chair. She sat on the University Board of Graz University of Technology from 2008 to 2013. Edeltraud Hanappi-Egger was Chair of the WU Senate from 2006 to 2009, and Head of the Department of Management from 2012 to 2014.

She is member and chairperson of several accreditation teams at AACSB and EFMD and an expert on higher education.
She has been Rector of WU since October 1, 2015, and is the first woman to ever hold this position. WU's Talents was developed based on her initiative.

Cattina Leitner

Cattina Leitner is an attorney-at-law with DORDA. After graduating with a doctorate in law from the University of Graz, she was appointed as a judge at the Higher Regional Court in Graz. During her time there, she took the Austrian bar exam and turned to practicing law in 2015; she has been a registered attorney since 2019. Between 2008 and 2018, she served 2 periods as chair of the University Board at the Medical University of Graz, and has been chair of WU’s University Board since 2018. She is a member of the Senate of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and president of the Österreichischer Stiftungsverband. She is also a member of the supervisory boards of GrECo International Holding AG in Vienna and of ÖBB-Holding AG.

In her free time, she can often be found with pencils and paintbrushes in hand, pursuing her passion for drawing and painting.

Norbert Zimmermann

Norbert Zimmermann was born in Bludenz, Vorarlberg, in 1947. He studied commercial sciences at WU, and went on to gain professional experience working at IBM, Spar – Österreichische Handelswaren AG, and Böhm GmbH. In 1986, he took over the management of the state-owned Berndorfer Metallwarenfabrik. Two years later, he  acquired the majority of the company’s shares in a management buyout. He changed the company name to Berndorf AG and turned it into an international technology conglomerate.

Until 2008, he was chairman of the board of directors, then he took over as chairman of the supervisory board. In April of 2020, he handed over the position of chair of the supervisory board to his daughter, Sonja Zimmermann. 

He is also chairman of the board of the Berndorf Privatstiftung, a predominantly charitable foundation, as well as of the MEGA Bildungsstiftung, established in 2019, which promotes education initiatives.

From 2004–2008, Zimmermann was president of the Federation of Austrian Industries, Lower Austria Regional Group.

In addition to his corporate activities, Norbert Zimmermann is also a musician. He is a member of the “Swinging Leaders,” a group of jazz-loving managers and executives who are dedicated to charitable causes. Since it was founded in 2004, the group has performed regularly at charity events.