The New Role of Universities in the Twenty-first Century: Universities as Engines of Innovation and Entrepreneurial Hubs

Andreas Pinkwart

Leipzig Graduate School of Management

Prof. Dr. Andreas Pinkwart is the Dean of the HHL, Leipzig Graduate School of Management. In April 2011, Prof. Dr. Pinkwart was a Senior Visiting Fellow at AICGS, where his research project focused on the new roles of universities as entrepreneurial hubs and engines of innovation in the U.S. and Germany.

Andreas Pinkwart is a German politician and was Professor for Business Administration at the University of Siegen since 1998. He also has been deputy chairman of the federal Free Democratic Party since May 2003. In 2002 he was elected to the German Parliament, where he remained until his appointment as Deputy Prime Minister of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. From June 2005 to July 2010 Prof. Dr. Pinkwart served as Minister for Innovation, Science, Research, and Technology, and was responsible for the ‘most liberal set of university rules in Europe,’ according to The Scientist magazine. Since June 2010, he has been a member of the Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Policy Report 50

In Policy Report 50, Prof. Dr. Andreas Pinkwart analyzes the changes underway within the innovation systems in the United States and Germany. He looks at how modern universities have changed in the twenty-first century, and cites requirements for those universities looking to better integrate in the innovation system.  He then discusses how universities can transition from being “ivory towers” to “entrepreneurial universities,” and how businesses can encourage university innovation and entrepreneurship through partnerships and campus companies.


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The views expressed are those of the author(s) alone. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the American-German Institute.