Prof. Andrea Olschewski, PhD appointed as KL Rector
Decision by the General Assembly of Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences GmbH: Andrea Olschewski, a specialist in anaesthesia and interdisciplinary pain therapy, is to take over the management functions of KL Founding Rector and Managing Director Rudolf Mallinger in February 2026.
On Wednesday, 18 June 2025, the General Assembly of Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences GmbH (KL GmbH) voted in favour of Prof. Andrea Olschewski, PhD, as the designated Rector and Managing Director of Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences. The specialist in anaesthesia and interdisciplinary pain therapy - currently Professor of Experimental Anaesthesia at the Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine at the Medical University of Graz and head of three FWF-funded research projects - is to succeed Prof. Dr Rudolf Mallinger from February 2026.
The General Assembly's decision was made following an international call for applications and a multi-stage search process as well as the personal presentation of the final candidates. The result was announced at an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday afternoon. As a next step, the General Assembly will enter into negotiations with Andrea Olschewski. The future successor to Rudolf Mallinger, who is in his second term of office at Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences (KL Krems), will then be officially announced.
"The large number of highly qualified applications for the position of Rector or Managing Director of Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences illustrates the reputation of the young educational institution," summarises Prof. Dr. Sabine Seidler, Chair of the General Assembly. "All of the final candidates had very good qualifications for the management function and enabled a selection at a high level."
Founding Rector Rudolf Mallinger is delighted with the General Assembly's final choice: "With Andrea Olschewski, a proven expert in the tertiary education and research landscape is taking over the management role. This means that a person with expertise in our core areas will continue to head KL Krems in the future in order to actively promote the further development of the private university."
Multi-stage selection process
The decision is preceded by a multi-stage selection process. From the applications received and on the basis of an extensive hearing process, the selection committee recommended a list of suitable candidates to the KL Senate. The Senate drew up a final proposal for the General Meeting of KL GmbH. The members of the Annual General Meeting made the final selection from this proposal.
