Psychologist Gerald Echterhoff appointed as Theodor Heuss Professor
The social psychologist Prof Dr Gerald Echterhoff from the University of Münster has been appointed Theodor Heuss Professorship at the “New School for Social Research” (NSSR) in New York for two semesters, starting in September 2025. The New School is one of the best-known social science universities in the USA; it symbolises the long tradition of German-American academic cooperation. Gerald Echterhoff is the first academic from the University of Münster to receive the honour of this visiting professorship.
Founded in 1919, the NSSR and its “University in Exile” were particularly important for social scientists and humanities scholars fleeing the National Socialist regime from the 1930s onwards. Renowned intellectuals such as Hannah Arendt, Erich Fromm, Hans Jonas and Leo Strauss taught there.
Gerald Echterhoff, who has been working at the University of Münster since 2010, specialises in social and motivational influences on cognition and memory, communication and relationships between groups. During his stay, he will also further pursue research on topics that are part of Münster University's research profile, such as research into refugee migration and the integration of refugees. The New School's offers excellent and inspiring structures for collaboration on this topic, for instance, the “Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility”.
The Theodor Heuss Professorship, named after the first President of the Federal Republic of Germany, was established in 1962 with the support of the Federal Government. It is awarded annually to outstanding German academics from the disciplines of sociology, economics, psychology, philosophy or history. Previous holders of the Heuss Professorship include the philosopher Jürgen Habermas, the sociologist Niklas Luhmann and the historians Reinhart Koselleck and Hans Mommsen; the last recipient was the historian Christina Morina from Bielefeld University.