Prof. Dr. Michael Huth is now Founding President of the UTN
Prof. Dr. Michael Huth has taken office as the new Founding President of the Technical University of Nuremberg (UTN), with effect from October 1, 2024. He is taking over the presidential duties of Prof. Dr. Alexander Martin, the Founding Vice President for Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, who has been in office as the Deputy Founding President since April 2024.
Prof. Huth is moving to the UTN from Imperial College London, one of the top 10 universities in the world. At Imperial, he was Professor of Computer Science, Head of the Department of Computing, and will continue to be a Visiting Professor. In research and teaching, his focus is on forward-looking topics in the areas of artificial intelligence and cyber security. Michael Huth was born in Aschaffenburg in Lower Franconia and is now returning to Bavaria after more than 30 years at renowned universities in Great Britain and the USA. He studied mathematics at the TU Darmstadt and received his PhD at Tulane University, New Orleans. He then researched and taught, e.g., at the TU Darmstadt and Kansas State University, and spent a research sabbatical at the University of Oxford. He is co-founder & senior researcher at Xayn, an AI start-up based in Berlin.
Science Minister Markus Blume emphasised: ‘Welcome back Home! I wish Prof Dr Michael Huth a great start at the Technical University of Nuremberg and look forward to working with him. He is the ideal candidate for the office of President at UTN. With his immense experience abroad and in founding companies, he fits in perfectly with the spirit of a cosmopolitan start-up university. As a native of Franconia, the development of the UTN is also a matter close to his heart. Many thanks also to Prof Dr Alexander Martin, who has confidently steered the fortunes of our youngest state university in recent months and is now back to focusing fully on the important areas of research, innovation and entrepreneurship as Founding Vice President.’
“At the UTN, we have a unique opportunity to build a university for tackling the social and technical challenges of the future, supported with new structures for research, teaching, and transfer. Being able to co-shape and deliver such a vision as Founding President was and is most appealing to me. I am grateful to the entire UTN team, especially to the Deputy Founding President, Prof. Dr. Alexander Martin, for their commitment to this vision. Their passionate work has set a strong foundation on which to further develop the UTN during the next period of considerable growth and focus on artificial intelligence," says Michael Huth about his new role.
Michael Huth heads the Founding Executive Board, with Prof. Dr. Isa Jahnke, Founding Vice President for Academic and International Affairs, Prof. Dr. Alexander Martin, Founding Vice President for Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Dr. Markus Zanner, Chancellor of the UTN, as other executive members
Strategic development
Together with the Founding Executive Board and everyone involved at the UTN, Michael Huth will give high priority to the genesis of the UTN-Departments and the development of their research themes, as well as the planning of the second campus construction phase and the appointment of professors in support of this genesis. In addition, a strategically informed increase in support staff and adaptation of the organizational structures are planned to optimally prepare the UTN for its next growth phase. Additional steps concern the development of further degree courses with an AI focus; the establishment of initial activity spheres, in which the UTN will test new ways in interdisciplinary research, teaching and transfer; and the entering of strategic partnerships that enable the UTN to positively influence society and the economy in the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region, Bavaria and beyond.
About the Technical University of Nuremberg
The Technical University of Nuremberg (UTN), founded in 2021, is the first newly established public university in Bavaria since 1978. The UTN is a living laboratory building a university for the age of AI and the rapidly advancing changes in technology, business and society. The UTN strives to become a strong regional force in research, teaching and transfer and an internationally leading university of the 21st century with regional roots and a global outlook.
The 37-hectare, sustainable UTN campus will form the center of the new Lichtenreuth district in Nuremberg, close to the historic city center. Around 6,000 students, 200 professors and at least 2,000 employees will study and work there. Study programs will integrate aspects of technology, liberal arts, social sciences and natural sciences to ideally prepare students for the interdisciplinary requirements of the new world of work.