Astrid Beckmann ( Rautenberg, born 20 December 1957) is a German physicist, a professor of

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

mathematics education In contemporary education, mathematics education—known in Europe as the didactics or pedagogy of mathematics—is the practice of teaching, learning, and carrying out Scholarly method, scholarly research into the transfer of mathematical know ...

, and was a long-serving university president. Beckmann served as president of the Pädagogische Hochschule Schwäbisch Gmünd from 2010 to 2018. She also taught at the

University of Ulm Ulm University () is a public university in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University was founded in 1967 and focuses on natural sciences, medicine, engineering sciences, mathematics, economics and computer science. With 9,891 studen ...

Life and career

Beckmann was born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. While at school, she recorded one first-place finish and one second-place finish in the national German math competition Bundeswettbewerb Mathematik. Upon finishing her school studies in 1976, she read mathematics and physics at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

. Beckmann then wrote her physics thesis, which dealt with resistance measurements on metallic compounds, at the Helmholtz Center for Materials and Energy (HZB). Having successfully completed her teacher training in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

, she took up a position as a physicist in the Institute of Physics at

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

. During her time in Frankfurt's "crystal lab". Beckmann tackled issues relating to materials research with a focus on rare earth compounds. In 1989, Beckmann obtained a doctorate in mathematics at the

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the German-speaking world. It is named afte ...

with a thesis on teaching geometry proofs to 12- to 15-year-old students (supervised by Heinz Schwartze and Günter Pickert). She then continued her work in the field of mathematics education, initially with the help of a scholarship from the Hessen State Ministry for Higher Education, Research and the Arts. From 1994 to 2003, she taught mathematics and physics in Lemgo and at Leibniz University Hanover. She completed her postdoctorate at this latter institution in 2003 in mathematics education. Beckmann's thesis addressed the development of a model concept for interdisciplinary teaching, with a focus on mathematics in connection to physics, language and computer science. Following a brief period as an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

Leibniz University Hannover Leibniz University Hannover (), also known as the University of Hannover, is a public university, public research university located in Hanover, Germany. Founded on 2 May 1831 as Higher Vocational School, the university has undergone six period ...

, Beckmann was appointed Professor of Mathematics and Mathematics Education at the University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd in 2003.Department of Mathematics and Informatics
of University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd She headed the Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science from 2003 to 2005 and was vice-president for Research, Development, and International Relations between 2005 and 2008. Beckmann was unanimously elected president of the University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd in 2009 and occupied this post from 2010 to 2018. Beckmann was deputy chair of the State Rectors' Conference for Universities of Education (LRK) from 2011 to 2015, subsequently taking over as chair between April 2015 and 2017. As a member of the LRK board, she also represented the Universities of Education in the Senate of the

German Rectors' Conference The German Rectors' Conference ( German: ''Hochschulrektorenkonferenz'' – HRK) is the voluntary association of state and state-recognised universities and other higher education institutions in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Repu ...

(HRK).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckmann, Astrid 21st-century German physicists Living people Scientists from Berlin Free University of Berlin alumni University of Giessen alumni Academic staff of Goethe University Frankfurt Academic staff of the University of Ulm German women physicists 20th-century German mathematicians 20th-century German women mathematicians 21st-century German women mathematicians German mathematics educators 21st-century German mathematicians 1957 births 20th-century German women scientists 21st-century German women scientists 20th-century German physicists