Meet the Deans

On 1 September, the Hertie School introduced a new leadership structure, governed academically by President Henrik Enderlein and three Deans – Dean of Executive Education Andrea Römmele , Dean of Graduate Programmes Christine Reh, and Dean of Research and Faculty Mark Hallerberg, alongside Managing Director Axel Baisch.  The new leadership will guide our growth in the coming years – the addition of five new Centres of Competence, a Data Lab and the hiring of over a dozen new professors, thanks to the generous support of the Hertie School’s main funder, the Hertie Foundation. Get to know Andrea Römmele, who in addition to her new role as Dean of Executive Education is also Professor for Communications in Politics and Civil Society, in the first of our series of short interviews.

What does a Dean of Executive Education do?
My job is to turn the great ideas coming out of the Hertie School into executive teaching, but also to have my finger on the pulse of trends in executive education outside our institution. At the Hertie School, I talk to our faculty, learn what they are working on and are interested in, and think about how we could turn this into executive teaching. I am in dialogue with our Centres of Competence and their teams about their research and agendas, and I work with my great team Bernhard and Eva on turning these ideas into programmes. I also regularly discuss these strategic topics with our university leadership: the other two deans and our President and Managing Director. Looking outside the Hertie School for insights and ideas, I attend conferences, talk to think tanks and NGOs, and I am in close contact with deans of executive education at other top public policy schools, discussing trends and priorities for the field.

What are your goals for Executive Education in the coming year?
To create interesting programmes that put the Hertie School at the vanguard of public policy Executive Education.

Where are you from and how did you come to Berlin/Hertie School?
I am originally from Stuttgart – I was born there but moved to London when I was five. Then back to the Swabian capital again when I was 14.

What was your favourite class/teacher in graduate school?
No doubt: Aaron Wildavsky and Bruce Cain (UC Berkeley) 

What’s the best thing about Berlin?
I love the Komische Oper and going second-hand shop-hopping with my friends. My favourite shop: Sommerladen in Linienstrasse! 

What do you do in your spare time?
Normally, I play tennis – but when a minor injury took me off the courts temporarily, I discovered how much I like Yoga and Pilates. But I hope to be back playing tennis in summer!

What is the most important thing you have learned from Hertie School students?
I have learned so much from their curiosity, their sky’s-the-limit attitude, their openness.

Is there a recent book you'd recommend for a student of public policy today?
I just finished Democracy for Realists: Why elections do not produce responsive government, by Christopher H. Achen and Larry M. Bartels.

What is the best book you’ve read in the last year?
No doubt: Siri Hustvedt: What I Loved – I not only enjoyed it, I recommend it highly.

What’s your New Year’s resolution?
Stay hungry, stay foolish! (Steve Jobs)