Nina Gerlach (born in 1979) has been Rector of the University of Fine Arts Münster since 2021 and Professor of aesthetics and art sciences since 2015. Gerlach studied European art history, ancient history, media and communication studies in Heidelberg and Mannheim (M. A. in 2005) and, until her intermediate exam (2002), media art/film at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design.

From 2005 to 2010, she completed her doctorate in European art history at the University of Heidelberg (Prof. Dr. Michael Hesse, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Müller/TU Dresden) and was a fellow at Harvard University/Dumbarton Oaks (2008–2009). Her dissertation, published in 2012 (Gartenkunst im Spielfilm. Das Filmbild als Argument. Wilhelm Fink Verlag), highlights the role of gardens as a visual argument in epistemological and moral philosophical discourses of feature films.

Gerlach was a member of the NCCR Iconic Criticism (Eikones/University of Basel) from 2010 to 2013. Here, she examined the integration of technological innovations in video art and their displays using the example of online video portals. The project introduces theories of interpictoriality and cognitive metaphors into contemporary art theory.

From 2006 to 2015, Gerlach was a lecturer at the universities of Heidelberg, Basel, Friedrichshafen and Cologne and a substitute professor at the University of Fine Arts Münster.

Nina Gerlach represents an art science that focuses on the central challenges of contemporary society.