When Duke Ludwig the Wealthy of Bavaria-Landshut founded Bavaria's first university with a papal concession in 1472, no one could imagine that over the next five hundred years it would move twice and emerge as one of the largest universities in Germany, providing some of the country's strongest research. The university began with four faculties in Ingolstadt, where it witnessed the flowering of German humanism and played a major role in the Counter-Reformation. The move to Landshut saw the growing influence of the Enlightenment on the university. The second move, this time to the heart of the royal capital Munich, brought an expansion of the faculties and a huge advance in the sciences. Today LMU Munich has matured into one of the world’s leading international universities, fully competitive with the other major institutions of higher learning and research. It continues to build on its distinct identity and its core skills in research and instruction in order to confront both academic challenges and the hugely complex demands of our changing world.
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) München is a public corporation with the right of self-governance within the confines of the law. At the same time, it is a state entity divided into a central administration and 18 faculties. The University Executive Board is composed of six members: the president and five vice presidents. The University Executive Board consults with its main advisory board, the University Council, comprised of members of the university as well as high-ranking and experienced representatives from the private sector, the professional world and other branches of academia. The University Governing Board consists of members of the Executive Board, the deans and the women’s representative of the university. To develop competitive procedures adapted to the logic and specific performance of the different subject groups, a system of consultative committees was introduced, the functions of which are defined in LMU Munich’s Basic Statutes.
The faculties themselves house various academic bodies such as departments and institutes, as well as managing units. In order to strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration, members of these academic bodies can merge to form crossdisciplinary centers.
University Council
As the central decision-making body, the University Council functions as a governing board. The president and vice presidents are elected by the Council, which can also remove such individuals from service. Among other things, the Council enacts the university constitution, i.e., its basic statutes, decides upon matters relating to university development, and establishes, alters, or cancels degree programs. The University Council has a four-year term.University Governing Board
The University Governing Board is responsible for the university development plan and decides upon the organization of the university into faculties.
Committees
Each of these four groups appoints delegates to respective committees according to an allotment system.
Board of University Representatives
The Board of University Representatives consists of 16 elected members as well as the women’s representative and her deputy. The six members of the University Executive Board attend the meetings in an advisory capacity. The University Representatives vote, among other things, on fundamental questions of research, the promotion of young academics, and the fulfillment of gender equality as well as exam and degree regulations. They also comment on nominations for professorships.
The Faculty Councils
There are 18 Faculty Councils, each the embodiment of the faculties’ writ of self-governance. The Faculty Councils elect the faculty spokespersons (deans), the vice-deans of students, and the vice-deans for research from among the professors. Within their respective faculties, the Councils discuss and adjudicate all major issues which don’t fall under the jurisdiction of the dean or another faculty organ. The Faculty Council consists of members of the four stakeholder groups as well as the faculty’s women’s representative.
University Women’s Representative
The women’s representative supports the university “in achieving its task of promoting the fulfillment of gender equality” (§ 46 LMU university constitution). As a member of all university committees, she ensures that considerations of equality are appropriately observed, for instance, in the appointment of professors or future university planning. She counsels women and men on a variety of issues and also initiates, develops, and coordinates gender-specific projects.
As a cosmopolitan university, LMU values the diversity represented by its members, with their individual experiences, talents, points of view and ways of thinking. This diversity is vital for excellence in research, teaching, study and administration.
The University is committed to a culture in which diversity is acknowledged and appreciated, and in 2011 endorsed the Charter of Diversity ("Charta der Vielfalt") initiated by German business with the support of the Federal Government.
Gender equality has become a central element of LMU policy in recent years and has been established as a principle of University governance. LMU has also taken steps to create family-friendly structures and introduced measures that address other aspects of diversity, such as physical capabilities and differences in social and cultural backgrounds. LMU makes every effort to ensure that all its members – irrespective of their gender, family obligations, physical and psychological attributes, age, nationality, and social and cultural origins – have the opportunity to develop their talents in the best possible way and to fully participate in University life. LMU’s repeated success in the Excellence Initiative, which explicitly calls for the creation and realization of effective measures to promote diversity, underline the University’s dedication to the fulfillment of this objective.
In the interests of inclusion, the University strives to establish equal opportunities at all hierarchical levels and in all organizational divisions. To create an environment that promotes diversity, all barriers must be identified and removed. LMU actively and sustainably facilitates such efforts through a comprehensive program of Diversity Management. In addition, LMU has established a central Office for Equality and Inclusion (Kontaktstelle für Gleichstellung und Inklusion). In recognition of these ongoing efforts, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs and the Federal Ministry for Education and Research awarded the "Total E-Quality Award" to LMU in both 2009 and 2012.
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