Klump took office on 1 January 2015, replacing Dr. Rolf Tarrach who had held the post for nearly 10 years. Klump had been at the centre of a row concerning the budget as of late.
Among the highlights of Klump’s tenure include the installation in large part of the new Belval site in 2015-16, as well as the creation of a contemporary history interdisciplinary centre, and the creation of a logistics centre in collaboration with MIT.
Klump had also worked towards increasing the visibility of the university at the international level while supporting research and higher education within the Grand Duchy. In 2016, the university ranked 11th in the Times Higher Education (THE) ranking of the top 150 universities under 50.
Klump was born in Darmstadt, Germany, in 1958. He studied economics in Mainz and Paris (Panthéon-Sorbonne), and he received his PhD in economics at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. He had served as professional vice president of Goethe University from 2009-2014.