Dr Dorothea Rüland, Secretary General of the German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst – DAAD) from 2010 to 2021, has today (14 February) received the First Class Federal Cross of Merit from the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Katja Keul, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, presented the Order of Merit awarded by the German Federal President. The DAAD and the Federal Foreign Office congratulated her on receiving the award.

‘In her long career, Dorothea Rüland has modernised the German Academic Exchange Service, turned it into an organisation that is fit for the future, and uncovered many new and important subject areas for the DAAD to consider. She has always been passionately committed to the internationalisation of German higher education institutions. I’m delighted that her enduring commitment has now been honoured with the Federal Cross of Merit. We at the DAAD are deeply grateful to her’, said DAAD President Professor Joybrato Mukherjee.

‘International knowledge exchange is of paramount importance in addressing global challenges such as the climate crisis. Dorothea Rüland worked tirelessly to nourish it. In her 11-year term of office, she greatly advanced collaboration within international research, and the exchange of students and researchers. I’m extremely pleased to present her with the First Class Federal Cross of Merit in recognition of her outstanding dedication’, stated Minister of State Katja Keul during the award ceremony.

Rüland studied History, German Studies and Musicology at the University of Freiburg and received her doctorate there in 1984. She was initially involved as a foreign language assistant (DAAD Lektorin) in the United Kingdom and in Thailand. She then assumed responsibility for various positions within the DAAD, for instance as Head of the Regional Office in Jakarta, as Head of the Programme Department South and from 2004 as deputy Secretary General. In 2008 she switched to become Director of the ‘Center for International Cooperation’ at the Free University of Berlin. Then in October 2010 she became DAAD Secretary General and managed its headquarters in Bonn, where she shaped the work of the organisation for over a decade.

Dorothea Rüland continues to be actively involved in internationalisation of the German higher education system. This includes her assuming the role as Secretary General of the Hamburg Institute for Advanced Study (HIAS) in August 2021.