December 1, 2021

The Corona-induced closure of universities has created major barriers between teachers and learners, employers and job entrants. Office hours, internships, job fairs, exchange of experiences – all of these could only take place virtually at best. With this year's "Professor of the Year" award, the UNICUM Foundation is therefore honoring lecturers who have understood this crisis as a special challenge, who have stood by their students with advice and support despite the pandemic, and who have not allowed contact with the professional world to be interrupted. The "Professor of the Year" competition has been held for 15 years under the patronage of the German Federal Ministries of Education and Research and of Economic Affairs and Energy.

Prof. Dr. Petra Drewer, Professor in the Communication and Media Management program at HKA, receives this national award today with second place in the Humanities/Social and Cultural Sciences category for her exceptional commitment to preparing her students for their careers. First place goes to Prof. Dr. habil. Benjamin Rott from the University of Cologne and third place to Prof. Dr. Annika Schach from Hannover University of Applied Sciences. Further prizes were awarded in the categories of Engineering/Computer Science, Medicine/Natural Sciences and Economics/Law. The winners were selected by an independent jury chaired by the Rector of the University of Duisburg-Essen, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Radtke.

"We accept the 'Professor of the Year' award for our esteemed colleague Petra Drewer with pleasure and pride," said HKA President Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Artinger at the announcement. "As a university of applied sciences, we are committed to practicing good teaching at all levels. We see it as our duty to our students to provide them with a sound education and a smooth start to their careers. That's why we are especially pleased that Prof. Dr. Petra Drewer is being honored with this title today."

"I see it as a central part of my job not only to provide students with professional skills and knowledge, but also to show them and open up possible paths into the professional world," said the delighted award winner Petra Drewer after the announcement. "Since I am passionate about terminology, there is no other option than to try to instill this passion in our students. I am thrilled beyond measure to receive this extraordinary award. Just hearing from the UNICUM Foundation that I had been nominated was very moving. The fact that I actually received the award is unbelievable. I hope my students are now also a little proud of me."