Nadja Bieletzki explores how university presidents lead universities. She provides insights
into the upper echelons of higher education management and focuses especially on university
presidents in Germany. Special attention is given to the career background of university
presidents and the way they conduct reform projects. Based on the results from semi-structured
expert interviews and their qualitative analysis the author shows that university presidents
do not use all their formal power although their position has been strengthened by law. This
can be explained by the collegial characteristics of universities which drive and restrict
presidential actions Nadja Bieletzki was awarded the Ulrich Teichler Prize for Excellent
Dissertations 2016.
