The German Association of University Professors and Lecturers (DHV) has awarded the “University Professor of the Year” Prize toStefan M. Maul, professor of Assyriology at the University of Heidelberg. On behalf of the Iraqi government and under the scientific direction of the renowned Near Eastern scholar, research is being conducted in 2019 in the area of the still far-from-pacified city of Mosul since on the ruins of ancient Nineveh, the former capital of the Assyrian Empire. Together with Iraqi colleagues and government officials, Maul’s team is developing strategies—under the most difficult conditions—to secure, showcase, and sustainably protect this significant pre-Islamic cultural heritage. 

“The research is by no means without danger and can only take place under the strictest security precautions. And yet, even in the face of setbacks, my colleague Maul has rendered outstanding services to the revival of the classical sciences in Iraq, which have been devastated by war and terror,” explained Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Lambert T. Koch, President of the DHV, regarding the decision. Thanks to Maul’s initiative and, among other things, the generous support of the Volkswagen Foundation, Iraqi students in Mosul are now also being taught cuneiform studies at the highest academic level using original artifacts. “There are certainly far-reaching political hopes tied to this as well,” Koch continued. For a politically and socially divided Iraq, the study of the ancient Near East could contribute to peace. By reflecting on the heritage of Mesopotamia, a unifying identity might emerge within an ethnically and religiously fragmented population.

"Mr. Maul is literally putting his heart and soul into preserving cultural heritage. Through his pioneering commitment, he is also impressively demonstrating the high value that the so-called 'minor subjects' have for the university as a 'Universitas litterarum'. In a closely interconnected world, he reveals that supposedly niche subjects provide indispensable expertise whenever and wherever it is needed," Koch emphasized. Not least because of this, Maul presents the profession of university teachers in a positive light, even outside the academic environment.

The "University Teacher of the Year" award is endowed with €10,000 and will be presented to Professor Maul on March 23, 2026, at the "German Science Gala" in Berlin.
[Press release from the DHV(external link) dated December 4, 2025]

In 1998, Stefan Maul became a full member of the Heidelberg Society for the Study of the German Language ( Academy of Sciences and Humanities) since .