Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
A Research Centre of the Helmholtz Association

DESY News: Iris Wilhelm is new Administrative Director at DESY

News

News from the DESY research centre

https://www.desy.de/e409/e116959/e119238 https://www.desy.de/e409/e116959/index_eng.html?preview=preview news_suche news_search eng preview 1 1 8 both 0 1 %Y/%m/%d Press-Release
ger,eng
2025/03/31
Back

Iris Wilhelm is new Administrative Director at DESY

Experienced industry finance leader comes to the research centre’s Directorate

Download [1.1 MB, 1920 x 1280]
DESYs neue Administrative Direktorin: Iris Wilhelm. Foto: DESY, Jörg Müller
On 1 April 2025, Iris Wilhelm took over the position of Administrative Director at DESY. Wilhelm, a trained business economist, comes with a great deal of research centre management experience: she worked from 2007 to 2014 at the Helmholtz Zentrum Hereon in Geesthacht, lastly as the Group Leader for Finance and Procurement. Then she moved into various leadership positions in industry, including in the metal and printing industries as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Now she is reentering the research world.

“I missed the science environment, I missed the long-term oriented work and the possibility to contribute to the solutions to the pressing problems of our time,” she says. “DESY is fascinating to me. As one of the worldwide leading accelerator centres, new knowledge and new approaches for the shaping of the future are accomplished here through basic research. Together with everyone, I want to create excellent conditions for the science at DESY.”

Beate Heinemann, Chairwoman of the DESY Directorate, looks forward to the cooperation. “In the coming years, we want to further build up the scientific and innovative performance of our research centre – we have many outstanding projects before us: like PETRA IV, the buildings for the Innovation Factory and CAST, or the sustainable campus modernisation in Hamburg and Zeuthen. These projects require expertise in administration,” says Heinemann. “I am very excited that Iris Wilhelm is the Administrative Director at DESY. Through her, we get a recognised expert with great experience in management with research centres, as well as a fascination for our research and the DESY employees.”

Wilhelm succeeds Christian Harringa, who was Administrative Director since 2016. Arik Willner, the authorised representative of the Directorate for Innovation and Chief Technology Officer (CTO), led the administration in 2024 on an interim basis.

Logo der Helmholtz Gemeinschaft

© 2024, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY