Profile

Key Positions and Responsibilities

Research professor (Chair) for the Sociology of Work at the Goethe-University, Frankfurt am Main since 2011
Co-Director for the interdisciplinary Center for Leadership and Behavior in Organizations (CLBO) since 2011
First-ever Vice-Rector for Human Resources Management and Development and first woman in Rectorate of RWTH Aachen University, 2008 – 2011
Professor for Sociology with the specialty of Gender and Life Course Research at RWTH Aachen, 2007-2011
Deputy director of the GLOBALIFE project at the University of Bamberg, 2003-2006, a 2006 EU Descartes Prize finalist
Postdoc researcher at Cornell Gerontology Research Institute, University of Bielefeld (C1), and University of Bamberg (C1) between 2002-2007

Boards and University Service

Board of Trustees for the Technical University of Munich since 2018
Board of Trustees for the TUM Institute for Advanced Studies, 2011 – 2023
Board of Trustees for the University of Bamberg, 2011 – 2019
Dean of Studies for 6000 students and 12 courses of study at the School of Social Sciences, Goethe University, Frankfurt, 2018 – 2021
Chair of the Board of Examiners, Faculty of Social Sciences, Goethe University, Frankfurt, 2016 – 2018
Chair of the Department of Sociology, Goethe University, Frankfurt, 2013 – 2015

Visiting and Guest Professorships and Fellowships

Erasmus Exchange Visiting Professor, Department of Sociology, Trinity College Dublin, 2022
Visiting Fellow at the Center for the Study of Economy and Society, Cornell University, 2014-15

Education and Training

CTI Co-Active™ coach, trained in Oslo and London, 2018
Graduate of University Leadership Program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Institute for Educational Management, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2009
Ph.D. in Sociology from Cornell University, 2002
Masters in Sociology from Cornell University, 1999
Bachelors in Sociology from Rice University, 1995

Additionally

Responsible for the Introduction to Sociology course at Goethe University, Frankfurt for 800+ students annually since 2012
Three decades studying work, family, gender, and life courses with an international comparative perspective.

Media

INTERVIEW: Schubladen im Kopf ausfindig machen

Sieben Tage Vollgas – weg mit dem Sonntag? (Aus der Reihe “Engel Fragt,” am 20.11.2019)

Streitkultur: Ändern mächtige Frauen die Führungskultur?

Allianz Interview: Generation Y – Arbeit und Privates in Einklang bringen, Interview mit Soziologin Heather Hofmeister

Recent Uni Lecture

Professor since 2007

I invest my life energy in teaching, learning, and researching. I care about the next generation and the quality of the world we are passing on. Read my workshop testimonials here.

International speaker since 1997

From small groups to huge auditoriums, I connect with my audiences because I care about their learning. Read testimonials from my talks and lectures here.

Leader since 2008

I’ve held multiple positions in university leadership, including the senior leadership team from 2008-2011 and memberships in boards of directors since 2011. Read my consultancy testimonials here.

CTI© Co-Active coach since 2018

Many requests to coach and mentor the next generation of women academics over the years inspired me to train professionally as a CTI Co-Active coach in 2018. I coach and apply the principles of connection to my workshops, talks, and consulting. CTI is the largest coaching training in the world and focuses on wholeness, integration, creativity, and resourcefulness. Read coaching testimonials here.

Published author since 1999

I’m committed to getting ideas down to be shared, to connect thoughts and people. I authored numerous chapters, journal articles, edited volumes, and more exciting projects are underway.

Research Sociologist since 1995

I consider the individual in a broader context. History, culture, physical surroundings, other people, policy context, unconscious processes, past experiences, and patterns of thought and behavior: it all matters. I use research to connect the big picture to the individual and the individual to the big picture. Structures in society shape our agency, and we use our agency to shape structures.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS