HM’s senior management team now complete: new Vice-President and two Vice-Presidents for the Executive Board (Press Release 41/26)

Munich, 29 October 2026 – The University Council of Hochschule München (HM) today elected two new male Vice-Presidents and one new female Vice-President by a large majority. Prof. Dr Stefan Pohlmann, Prof. Dr Christian M. Seidel and Prof. Dr Gudrun Socher will, with immediate effect, join the leadership team led by President Prof. Dr Sonja Munz and Chancellor Jörg Finger.

“With Gudrun Socher, Stefan Pohlmann and Christian M. Seidel, the university management team is being strengthened by individuals who bring just as much experience as they do a drive to shape the future in the areas of study and teaching, research, cooperation and innovation. The HM has achieved a great deal and set many initiatives in motion in recent years. We are building on this and taking it further together. I am very much looking forward to working with this team,” said President Sonja Munz, who took up her post at the HM on 1 October 2026.

Gudrun Socher – Studies and Teaching

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gudrun Socher has been Professor of Human-Computer Interaction at the Department of Computer Science and Mathematics at HM since 2006. From 2020 to 2026, she established and led the cross-faculty Munich Center for Digital Sciences and AI (MUC.DAI), offering interdisciplinary degree programmes at the interface between artificial intelligence and its applications. She has secured substantial external funds for teaching innovation and interdisciplinary AI projects. Her degree programmes and teaching projects have received numerous awards. She was a visiting professor at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) in California and is active in the Doctoral Research Center for Applied Computer Science (PZAI).

As a computer scientist, she has been working in research and development on applications of artificial intelligence for almost 30 years. After studying at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the University of Grenoble, she completed her PhD at the University of Bielefeld and carried out research at Caltech. Before her appointment at HM, she worked for technology companies in Silicon Valley and Munich, most recently at Yahoo!. This combination of experience from the tech industry and academic practice shapes her understanding of future-oriented, internationally networked teaching.

Stefan Pohlmann – Research

Prof. Dr Stefan Pohlmann was appointed Professor of Gerontology at the Department of Applied Social Sciences at HM in 2004. As Dean, spokesperson for the Bavarian Deans in his field, Head of the Research Institute and Chair of the HM Ethics Committee, he has many years’ experience in academic administration. He developed Bavaria’s first undergraduate degree programme in nursing science, thereby paving the way for the HM to enter the healthcare sector. Through his membership of relevant committees, he maintains close links with the professional field.

After studying psychology, he obtained a PhD in cognitive science and completed his habilitation in gerontology. Prior to taking up his professorship at HM, he held academic posts at the universities of Münster, Hamburg and Frankfurt am Main, and held a senior position at a federal ministry working in the field of demography. As a gerontologist, Pohlmann has focused in a wide range of research projects primarily on factors relating to resilience and vulnerability throughout the life course. He attaches great importance to addressing socially relevant issues that can only be tackled through transdisciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration.

Christian M. Seidel – Collaboration and Innovation

Prof. Dr. Christian M. Seidel has been Professor of Manufacturing Technology and Additive Manufacturing Processes at the Department of Applied Sciences and Mechatronics at HM since 2019. He heads the Smart Manufacturing Lab, is Deputy Director of the Bavarian Materials Science and Production Engineering Doctoral Research Center (PZMP) and Scientific Director of the Additive Manufacturing division at the Transfer and Innovation Center Oberland (TIZIO) at HM. Since 2025, he has been spokesperson for Germany Makes, the association of the largest additive manufacturing hubs in Germany.

After studying mechanical engineering in Stuttgart and Munich, he obtained his PhD at the Technical University of Munich. He subsequently held various management positions within the Fraunhofer Society, most recently as Head of Additive Manufacturing, with responsibility for one of the largest additive manufacturing laboratories in Europe. Since 2014, he has been working as a management consultant, helping companies to develop strategies for additive manufacturing, and as a result has close ties with the industry. He has received numerous awards for his voluntary commitment in standardisation and technical committees, including at DIN, VDI, ISO, ASTM and Springer Nature.


Contact: Christina Kaufmann on T 089 1265-1908 or by email .