The University Council
Introducing the University Council
The University Council of the German Sport University Cologne comprises eight members: five from outside the university and three from within it. Under the Higher Education Freedom Act of 1 January 2007 (Section 14 of the Higher Education Act – HG), the University Council is one of the central bodies of universities in North Rhine-Westphalia, with far-reaching powers: it advises the Rectorate and exercises oversight over its management. The Chair is Dr Andrea Gotzmann, and her Deputy is Prof. Dr Mario Thevis.
Tasks
The members of the University Council are appointed by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. Their term of office is five years. The University Council of the German Sport University Cologne meets at least four times a year. In addition to providing strategic advice, its responsibilities include overseeing the financial management of the Rector’s Office. It may inspect and examine all the university’s documents. The University Council may delegate the exercise of this power to individual members of the University Council or to other experts.
In accordance with Section 21(1) of the Higher Education Act of North Rhine-Westphalia (HG NRW), the tasks of the University Council include, in particular:
- the participation of its members in the university electoral assembly in the election and removal of members of the Rectorate in accordance with Section 17(1) and (2) and Section 21(1);
- approval of the draft university contract in accordance with Section 6(3);
- approval of the business plan, of the University’s commercial activities in accordance with Section 5(7), of the establishment of a foundation in accordance with Section 2(6) and of the assumption of further tasks in accordance with Section 3(8);
- supervision of the Rectorate’s financial management;
- recommendations and opinions on the university development plan in accordance with Section 16(1a);
- the statement on the Rectorate’s report on its activities in accordance with Section 16(3) and on the evaluation reports in accordance with Section 7(2) and (3);
- recommendations and opinions on matters relating to research, the arts, teaching and student studies which concern the entire university or central bodies, or which are of fundamental importance;
- the approval of the annual accounts, the adoption of a resolution on the allocation of the annual surplus or the treatment of an annual deficit, and the granting of discharge to the Rectorate.
Members
Dr Andrea Gotzmann (Chair)
Dr Andrea Gotzmann was Chair of the Executive Board of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) from 2011 to 2023 and is currently CEO of the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organisations e.V. A doctor of sports science and biochemistry, she has close ties to the German Sport University Cologne: she studied there from 1976 to 1991 and subsequently worked for many years as a research assistant – initially at the Institute of Biochemistry and later at the Manfred Donike Institute for Doping Analysis. From 1973 to 1989, she played for the national basketball team and was crowned German champion on several occasions. She also won six cup titles with her club, AGON 08 Düsseldorf. Andrea Gotzmann has been a member of our university’s University Council since 2017 and took over as its chair in December 2022.
Professor Mario Thevis (Deputy Chair)
Since 2006, Mario Thevis has been Professor of Preventive Doping Research at the German Sport University Cologne and, since 2017, Head of the Institute of Biochemistry, which is accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). From 2014 to 2020, Professor Thevis served on the Rectorate of the German Sport University Cologne as Vice-Rector for Research and Early-Career Academics. Since 20 May 2020, he has been one of the three internal members of the University Council, alongside Professor Lausberg and Professor Wassong.
Professor Stephan Wassong
Since October 2009, Professor Stephan Wassong has been Head of the Institute for Sports History and Director of the Centre for Olympic Studies at the German Sport University Cologne. He introduced the international postgraduate Master’s programme in Olympic Studies (M.A. Olympic Studies), which is supported by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and run in collaboration with four international centres for Olympic studies. In his roles as Head of the programme and President of the International Pierre de Coubertin Committee, Professor Wassong has also been appointed to the IOC Commission for Olympic Education, of which he has been a member since 2014. In 2023, he was awarded the Vikelas Award by the International Society of Olympic Historians. His appointment as a member of the University Council marks the end of his nine-year tenure on the University of Sports Senate, where he served as Vice-Chair.
Professor Elisabeth Pott
The doctor was Director of the Federal Centre for Health Education (BzgA) in Cologne from 1985 to 2015. In addition to her role as a member of the University Council of the German Sport University Cologne, a position she has held since 2013, she was actively involved with the German AIDS Foundation – initially as an advisory member of the Board of Trustees and, from 2015 to 2018, as honorary chair of the Executive Board. From 2018 to 2021, she served as an impartial member of the Joint Federal Committee (G-BA), the highest body of joint self-government in the healthcare sector.
Torsten Burmester
Torsten Burmester has been a member of the University Council since 2022. As a graduate of the German Sport University Cologne (where he studied from 1986 to 1992), he knows the university very well. Having held positions at the Federal Chancellery, in the Sport Department of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, and at the Ministry of Education and Economic Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia, he brings extensive knowledge and experience in the fields of politics and sport. From 2020 to 2022, he was Secretary-General of the German Disabled Sports Association (DBS), before serving as Chairman of the Executive Board of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) from 2022 to 2024. Torsten Burmester has been Lord Mayor of the City of Cologne since 1 November 2025. (Photo: Maximilian König)
Karin Orgeldinger
Karin Orgeldinger has been a board member in charge of the ‘Athlete Support’ department at Deutsche Sporthilfe since 2021. A graduate of the German Sport University Cologne, she brings extensive professional experience in the field of sports organisation. She worked for several years at the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) in the competitive sports division, where, amongst other roles, she headed the “Olympic Winter Sports” department (2010–2014). At the German Ski Association (DSV), she initially held the position of Sports Director for Nordic Skiing and Biathlon (2014–2017) and subsequently served as Managing Director and a member of the Executive Board (2017–2021).
Professor Detlef Kuhlmann
From 2006 to 2023, Detlef Kuhlmann was a full professor at the Institute of Sports Science at Leibniz University Hannover, which he also headed as Executive Director for several years. An enthusiastic handball player and long-distance runner, he studied linguistics, German, sport and educational science at the University of Bielefeld, where he also completed his PhD with a thesis on the language used by PE teachers. His subsequent academic and professional career took him to the Universities of Berlin (Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Sports Science at the Free University of Berlin), Münster (habilitation) and Regensburg (visiting professorship in sports pedagogy at the Institute of Sports Science), before joining Leibniz University Hannover in 2004. From 2014 to 2023, Professor Kuhlmann served as Chair of the Faculty Council for Sports Science.
Professor Hedda Lausberg
Professor Lausberg is a specialist in neurology, psychosomatics, psychotherapy and psychiatry. She completed her habilitation in neurology at the Charité in Berlin in 2004 and was a W2 professor of psychosomatics at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena from 2007 to 2009. Since 2009, she has been a W3 Professor of Neurology, Psychosomatics and Psychiatry at the German Sport University Cologne and Head of the department of the same name. Since 2023, she has also been Executive Director of the Institute for Exercise Therapy, Exercise-Based Prevention and Rehabilitation. From 2020 to 2024, Hedda Lausberg served as Vice-Rector for Research, Academic Staff and Early-Career Researchers. She was a member of the Gender Equality Commission, the Habilitation Committee, the University Research Commission, as well as numerous appointment committees and W1 evaluation committees. Hedda Lausberg is currently a member of the Ethics Committee and the Standing Investigation Committee at the German Sport University Cologne.