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Retirement with vision: Vechta says goodbye to IT professor and nursing researcher!
Gerold Decker and Prof. Dr. Hildegard Theobald says goodbye after a long career at the University of Vechta.
Retirement with vision: Vechta says goodbye to IT professor and nursing researcher!
On September 26, 2025, the University of Vechta said goodbye to Gerold Decker, who is retiring after around 28 years at the university and its predecessor institutions. The ceremony was led by interim president Prof. Dr. Thomas Bals and the Vice President for Human Resources and Finance, Petra Brake. Decker began his professional career at the Institute of Environmental Sciences in the U building and moved to the Communications and Information Center (KIZ) in July 2001, which later became the university's data center.
In his most recent position, Decker was responsible for the university's server hardware, backup system and overall IT infrastructure. During his career, he has seen the demands on IT resources in higher education continue to increase. Thanks to the high personal commitment of the data center employees, many IT problems were successfully solved. After his retirement, Decker plans to devote more time to application programming and 3D printing. He would also like to take the opportunity to travel.
New challenges in the nursing sector
While Gerold Decker begins a new phase of his life, Prof. Dr. Hildegard Theobald retires from the University of Vechta. However, she remains active in research, particularly on migrant care. Her research focus is on the role of nursing staff with a migrant background and the associated organizational challenges in caring for older people.
Theobald's current research project examines international nursing approaches and the realities of nursing staff's lives. Given the demographic change in Germany, the supply gap in the care industry is becoming ever larger. According to estimates, this could increase to almost 500,000 skilled workers by 2035. What is particularly challenging is the high workload, which is often accompanied by insufficient social recognition.
Social challenges for migrants
Over 23,000 nursing staff from the Triple Win program work in Germany. Not only do these migrant nurses face the challenge of discrimination, but their qualifications are often not recognized. The requirements for their employment, such as knowledge of German at B2 level, lead to further inequalities in the team.
The issues of racism and the recognition of foreign qualifications represent major hurdles for this group. Prof. Dr. Theobald's goal is to develop solutions to these challenges as part of her research and to advocate for better working conditions in the nursing sector.
In addition to Decker and Theobald, there are also other emeritus professors at the University of Vechta, including Jürgen C. Thöming, who specializes in recent and newest literature as well as general literary studies. Other retired professors include Claus Ensberg and Wilfried Kürschner, who were active in the areas of didactics of German language and literature as well as general linguistics.
The University of Vechta and the scientific community are losing not only experienced specialists, but also committed researchers whose contributions to the academic world will continue to have an impact beyond their active service. For many, retirement is not the end, but rather a new beginning to pursue further interests and challenges.