Nadja Bieletzki explores how university presidents lead universities. She provides insights into the upper echelons of higher education management and focuses especially on university presidents in Germany. Special attention is given to the career background of university presidents and the way they conduct reform projects. Based on the results from semi-structured expert interviews and their qualitative analysis, the author shows that university presidents do not use all their formal power although their position has been strengthened by law. This can be explained by the collegial characteristics of universities, which drive and restrict presidential actionsNadja Bieletzki was awarded the Ulrich Teichler Prize for Excellent Dissertations 2016.