From 1981 to 1986,  he was the rector of our university

Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences mourns the loss of its founding chancellor and third rector, Professor Frerich van Dieken, who passed away on 2 November 2025 at the age of 92.
"Thanks to Prof. Frerich van Dieken's (*17 August 1933) tenacious and level-headed commitment and his skilful, diplomatic negotiation skills as head of Department B at the University of Nautical Studies in Bremen, it was primarily through his efforts that the University of Bremerhaven was founded 50 years ago as part of the concentration of nautical training in the state of Bremen," said his colleague Prof. Dr. h.c. Hans Rummel, who also co-founded the University of Bremerhaven in 1975. "His openness to the beginning of internationalisation, his personal commitment and his promotion of the young university's first collaborations, especially with the Polish partner university in Gdynia, shaped the mission statement of our university beyond his term of office. As a recognised academic teacher and doyen of maritime and transport law, he provided many generations of nautical and logistics professionals with the necessary tools for successful careers. As a long-standing co-author of the standard work on German maritime shipping, Müller-Krauß's ‘Handbuch der Schiffsführung’ (Handbook of Ship Management), he made an extraordinary contribution of national importance."

"Professor Frerich van Dieken will always be gratefully remembered by our university as its founding chancellor, rector, professor and academic teacher," promises University Rector Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Alexis Papathanassis.

Prof. Frerich van Dieken was Rector of Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences from 1981 to 1986. You can read more about his immense achievements in the german, commemorative publication "50 Jahre Horizonte erweitern" published by Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences - www.hs-bremerhaven.de/festschrift.