Berlin Technical University (TU Berlin), one of Germany’s largest and most influential technical institutions, has selected Turkish Professor Fatma Deniz as its new president in a landmark vote that marks a historic first for the university.
Deniz, previously the university’s vice president for Digitalization and Sustainability, secured 42 votes in the Academic Senate, defeating incumbent president Geraldine Rauch, who received 18.
Addressing university staff shortly after the vote, Deniz saşd she was “very happy” and accepted the position “with great trust and respect.”
In a statement published by the university, she outlined her vision for TU Berlin. “Our shared goal is to build a modern technical university that embodies scientific excellence in the capital. To achieve this, we need reliable structures and a culture in which learning, development and clear responsibility are the norm.”
At 42, Deniz is a professor of informatics known for her interdisciplinary research at the intersection of information science, neuroscience and data science, with a particular focus on how language systems function in the brain and in technical models.
On her personal website, she describes her team’s objective as understanding “how complex information is encoded in the brain” using computational models, adding that they are currently studying how multiple languages can coexist within human neural systems.
Born in Munich and raised in Türkiye, Deniz graduated at the top of her class from Bursa Girls’ High School before returning to Germany for her university studies. Her academic career spans prestigious institutions, including the University of California, Berkeley, and California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
She joined TU’s leadership in 2024 as Vice President for Digitalisation and Sustainability. She also describes herself as a passionate coder who enjoys baking and finds joy in “the resonance I feel when playing the cello.”
The defeated candidate, Professor Geraldine Rauch, 43, is a medical biometrics scholar who has served as president since 2022. Rauch faced intense public criticism last year after liking a social media post that compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Nazi leaders.
During her campaign, Deniz advocated for a rapidly developed long-term strategy for TU Berlin and for significantly accelerating administrative procedures. She is set to assume office on April 1, 2026.
Her election holds deep symbolic meaning for Germany’s Turkish community, many of whom arrived as guest workers for manual jobs and are now celebrated in leading roles across science, politics and public life.
