Karin Hollstein is considered one of the most influential personalities at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. With an impressive career spanning several decades, she has made a name for herself as a committed and experienced chancellor. She will leave the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences on 30.06.2023.

Born and raised in Görlitz, Karin Hollstein completed her school education at the Frederic Joliot Curie Extended Secondary School, among others. She showed great interest in legal issues at an early age and decided to study business law at the University of Leipzig. During her studies, she gained valuable practical experience, including in the internal affairs department of the city of Görlitz. Although she initially harbored the idea of working there, she changed course and ultimately found her calling in academia.

In September 1981, Karin Hollstein began her career as a research assistant in the field of business administration at the former Zittau University of Engineering. With great commitment and enthusiasm, she passed on her legal knowledge to young students in the then sections of Business Administration, Power Plant Technology and Energy Conversion and Electrical Power Supply and took on the role of seminar group advisor.

When the university was re-established in 1992, new opportunities opened up for Karin Hollstein. She retained the role of legal advisor, which she had held since the mid-1980s, and used her legal expertise for the benefit of the university.

In 1996, the then Head of Human Resources retired. Karin Hollstein took over the areas of personnel administration and legal affairs and was deputy to the then Chancellor Dr. Peter Reinhold.  In the following ten years, she successfully managed the legal and personnel-related tasks resulting from the winding up of the TH Zittau and the reestablishment of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, demonstrating stamina and organizational talent in the process. Her professional expertise and her fundamentally optimistic approach to challenges large and small contributed to her recognition among colleagues and students.

In October 2006, Karin Hollstein took over the office of Chancellor of the HSZG on an interim basis and was appointed Chancellor for the first time in July 2007 for eight years, followed by a second term of office from July 1, 2015. From 2008 to 2012, she was also Acting Chancellor of the IHI Zittau and head of the pilot project for the administrative alliance between the IHI Zittau and the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences.

Karin Hollstein has been the spokesperson for Saxony's UAS chancellors on the extended federal board of the Association of University Chancellors since 2018.

During her time in office, Karin Hollstein brought a breath of fresh air and new ideas to the university. Her ability to find compromises and think in a solution-oriented way helped to establish and deepen a trusting working relationship with students and staff at the university.

Karin Hollstein is open to new challenges. Although she is now approaching the end of her term of office at the HSZG, she will remain in office and will begin her work as Chancellor of the Saxon Police University in Rothenburg on 01.07.2023. With her experience and commitment, she has undoubtedly left her mark and will be remembered as an inspiring personality.