The Rector’s Council is the main executive body at WU, leading the institution and representing it in its external relations. It is composed of the Rector and four Vice-Rectors. Its responsibilities are defined primarily in § 22 of the Universities Act 2002, including the following (this is an exemplary list, and the various responsibilities are not ranked by importance):

• Preparing WU’s Organizational Structure Plan and Strategic Plan

• Preparing and negotiating a draft for WU’s Performance Agreement with the government

• Appointing the heads of organizational units

• Concluding target agreements with the heads of organizational units

• Budget allocation; preparing an annual performance report, financial statement, and intellectual capital report

The distribution of responsibilities among the members of the Rector’s Council is based on the Rules of Procedure of the Rector’s Council. The members of the Rector's Council for the term from 2015 to 2019:

• Rector Univ.Prof. DI. Dr. Edeltraud Hanappi-Egger

• Vice-Rector for Financial Affairs and University Development Univ.Prof. Dr. Harald Badinger

• Vice-Rector for Research and Human Resources Univ.Prof. Dr. DDr.h.c. Michael Lang

• Vice-Rector for Infrastructure and Digitalization Mag. Tatjana Oppitz

• Vice-Rector for Academic Programs and Student Affairs Univ.Prof. Dr. Margarethe Rammerstorfer

Edeltraud Hanappi-Egger completed her doctorate in information technologies at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna) in 1990. She has been a visiting researcher in Stockholm, Toronto, and Oslo, among others, and was the recipient of an Austrian Academy of Sciences grant from 1993 to 1996. In 1996, she received her venia docendi in applied information technologies from TU Vienna, where she worked as an associate professor until 2001. She has been Professor for Gender & Diversity in Organizations at WU since 2002. Hanappi-Egger has published over 350 papers on gender and diversity in organizations, has spent time at numerous international research institutions (most recently at LSE and McGill University), and previously held an EU Jean Monnet Chair.

She sat on the University Board of Graz University of Technology from 2008 to 2013. Edeltraud Hanappi-Egger was Chair of the WU Senate from 2006 to 2009, and Head of the Department of Management from 2012 to 2014. She has been Rector of WU since October 1, 2015, and is the first woman to ever hold this position.

She is member and chairperson of several accreditation teams at AACSB and EFMD and an expert on higher education.

Responsibilities

• Coordinating the Rector’s Council

• WU-wide strategic matters and organizational development

• Cooperation with the University Board, the Senate, and the Council of Department Chairs

• Faculty recruiting 

• International affairs (in cooperation with VR Littich)

• Marketing

• Internal and external communications

• Accreditations

• Representing WU to the outside

Contact

The Rector’s personal secretary is Martin Hlinomaz (+43 1 31336 5360)

Members of the press please contact: Mag. Cornelia Moll (+43 1 31336 4977)

For general inquiries to the Rector’s Council Office, please contact: Mag. Roland Humer MA (+43 1 31336 5499)

Harald Badinger completed his doctorate in Social and Economic Sciences at WU in 2001. He worked at WU’s Research Institute for European Affairs from 1999 to 2007, and in 2007 he received his venia docendi in economics. He conducted research at the Center for Economic Studies at LMU Munich as part of an Erwin Schrödinger Fellowship and then went on to work at the Economic Studies Division of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB).

In March 2010, Harald Badinger was appointed full professor at WU, where he has been heading the Institute for International Economics. He served as Deputy Chair of WU’s Department of Economics from 2012 to 2015. Professor Badinger took office as Vice-Rector for Financial Affairs on October 1, 2015.

Responsibilities

• Finance and accounting, budget management

• Financial control

• Corporate Relations and Alumni Services

• Fundraising and the management of third-party funding

• WU ZBP Career Center

Contact

Vice-Rector Badinger’s personal secretary is  Anne Zimics-Eskelinen (+43 1 31336 6148)

Clemens Rogi (+43 1 31336 4412) acts as Assistant to the Vice-Rector.

Michael Lang studied legal sciences and completed his doctorate in law at the University of Vienna. He came to WU in 1987, first as a teaching assistant, then as an assistant professor. He left academia to work full and then part time in the legal sector, and was with Deloitte until 2004. He was appointed Professor of Tax Law with a special focus on International Tax Law at WU in 1994. He has been a guest professor at Georgetown Law School, New York University, Sorbonne, Bocconi, Peking University (PKU), the University of New South Wales (Sydney), and other academic institutions. In addition to functions in numerous academic organizations, he has been President of the International Fiscal Association, Austrian Branch, since 2005.

Michael Lang has been Head of the Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law since 1998. From 2008 to 2015 he was Head of the Department of Public Law and Tax Law. From 2003 – 2005 he was Chairman of Professors and Senate Chair at WU. He has been the Vice-Rector for Human Resources since October 1, 2015.

Responsibilities

• Research and research-related issues

• Human resources

• Personnel development and planning, including diversity management

• General legal affairs

• Study-related law

Contact

Vice-Rector Lang’s personal secretary is Angela Werner (+43 1 31336 5359)

Dionisi Nikolov (+43 1 31336 5497) and Martin Reschenauer acts as Assistants to the Vice-Rector.

Tatjana Oppitz grew up in a multilingual family, attended international schools, and studied commercial studies at WU Vienna from 1981 to 1985. After graduation, she gained years of corporate experience working for Kodak and IBM, where she spent almost 30 years in a number of national and international positions, including stays in the company headquarters in Paris. As a former IBM executive, Tatjana Oppitz brings comprehensive management experience to her new function at WU. Before being appointed Vice-Rector for Infrastructure and Digitalization, she was Country General Manager for IBM Austria from 2011 to 2017 and has acted as an expert consultant to WU on digitalization since October of 2018. In addition to her professional career, she has been active in the fields of education and mentoring for women.

Responsibilities

• University Library

• IT-Services

• Campus, room, and facility management

• Purchasing and procurement

• Investments in facilities, infrastructure, and equipment

Contact

Vice-Rector Oppitz’s personal secretary is Angela Werner (+43 1 31336 5359)

Stefanie Errath (+43 1 31336 4418) acts as Assistant to the Vice-Rector.

In 2006, Margarethe Rammerstorfer earned her doctoral degree at WU with a dissertation focusing on regulation and finance. Until 2007, she worked at the WIK research institute for infrastructure and communications services in Bad Honnef, Germany. In 2007, following her desire to combine academic research and teaching, Margarethe Rammerstorfer decided to focus on fundamental research at a university again and returned to WU Vienna as a post-doc researcher working in the field of corporate finance. In 2013, she was appointed associate professor of finance and head of the Department of International Management at Modul University Vienna. In late 2016, she accepted the offer of a professorship at WU, where she became academic director of the Master’s Program in Finance and Accounting. On October 1, 2019, she joined the WU Rector’s Council as Vice-Rector for Academic Programs and Student Affairs.

Responsibilities

• Academic programs and examinations

• Program and quality management in teaching

• International affairs related to teaching and academic programs

• Extracurricular programs (Top League, Service Learning)

• Language Resource Center

• Executive Academy (continuing education & post graduate programs)

Vice-Rector Rammerstorfer’s personal secretary is Anne Zimics-Eskelinen (+43 1 31336 6148)

Daniela Arnet (+43 1 31336 5502) acts as Assistant to the Vice-Rector