The Committees

Board of Trustees

Prof. Dr. h.c. Roland Berger, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Chairman of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, Munich

Prof. Dr. h.c. Roland Berger is founder and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, Munich. He studied business administration in Munich and Hamburg.

Roland Berger was a lecturer in marketing and advertising at the Technical University of Munich from 1971 to 1972. He has been a guest professor at the Brandenburg Technical University in Cottbus since 1996, and honorary professor for business administration and management consulting since 2000. He is a member of the councils of Ludwig Maximilian University, the Technical University of Munich and the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich. He also sits on the advisory and supervisory boards of several international companies, such as The Blackstone Group, New York; Fiat Group, Turin; and Telecom Italy. He serves on various other advisory and supervisory boards for international companies, such as Alcan, Montreal; Komatsu, Tokyo and the Sony Corporation, Tokyo. Roland Berger is Honorary Consul General of Finland in Bavaria and Thuringia.

Roland Berger has authored and published numerous articles and publications.

Karin Berger

Editor Karin Berger began her efforts on behalf of children and young people early on, first as a member of the German Association for Child Protection in North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1976, she was awarding grants and studios to art students as a member of the Cultural Committee of the BDI ("The Umbrella Organization of German Industry").

Since founding the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester Foundation in 1992, she has supported the discovery and development of highly gifted young musicians from 26 European countries. This orchestra, founded by Claudio Abbado, makes it possible for these aspiring musicians to have successful music careers.

In cooperation with the Munich Opera, she supports innovative young artists in music and fine arts as part of Festspiel+.

Karin Berger is a trustee for the Verein zur Förderung der Alten und Neuen Pinakothek München e.V. (Society for the Promotion of the Alte and Neue Pinakotheks, two of Munich's museums). She is also on the board of trustees of the Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Münchner Opernfestspiele (Society for the Promotion of the Munich Opera Festival). She was a founding member of both the Anne Sophie Mutter Circle of Friends Foundation and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra Foundation.

Dr. Gert Haller, State Secretary and Head of the Office of the Federal President of Germany

After obtaining his Ph.D. in Economics, Dr. Gert Haller started working for the Federal Ministry of Finance in 1977, where he specialized on monetary policies. Between 1990 and 1992, he focused on the economic issues relating to German unification and on developing a single European monetary union. Between 1993 and 1994, Dr. Haller then served as State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Personal Representative of the Federal Chancellor for the Preparation of the World Economic Summit.

After working for the government, Dr. Haller switched to the private sector where he became Chairman of the Board of Wüstenrot Group. In 1999, he was involved in merging Wüstenrot Group with insurance company Württembergische AG.
From 1997 to 2006, he was Chairman of the Board of the Association of German Savings and Loan Societies (Private Bausparkassen e. V). As of March 1, 2006, Dr. Haller has been serving as State Secretary and Head of the Office of the Federal President of Germany.

Professor Dieter Lenzen, President of the Free University of Berlin

Dieter Lenzen is Professor of Philosophy of Education at the Free University of Berlin. Lenzen founded the journal "Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft" (Journal of Educational Science) and is editor of the 12-volume "Enzyklopädie der Erziehungswissenschaft" (Encyclopedia of Educational Science).

He has headed a number of projects in the realm of educational research, both for public institutions and companies, and has chaired Germany's Aktionsrat Bildung (action committee for education) since 2005.

Lenzen is also member of several committees and associations, including the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, the European Commission's High Level Expert Group on Science Education, the council of Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and the Board of Trustees of the Bildungswerk der Wirtschaft in Berlin und Brandenburg (Further Training Institute of Berlin-Brandenburg industries).

Lenzen has been a member of the Steering Committee of the Free University of Berlin since 1999, and its President since 2003. In May 2007, Lenzen was elected Vice President of the German Rectors' Conference.

Barbara Lochbihler

Barbara Lochbihler studied political science, political economy and international law in Munich. She served as the personal parliamentary consultant to Professor Eleonore Romberg, Member of the Bavarian Parliament in Munich, from 1987 to 1991. She then spent seven years as Secretary General of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) in Geneva.

Barbara Lochbihler is also the Chairperson of Amnesty International's Board of Trustees, member of the Coordination Committee of Germany's Forum Menschenrechte (Human Rights Forum), and founder member of the German Institute for Human Rights.

Professor Ludger Wößmann

Ludger Wößmann is an economics professor specializing in the economics of education at Munich's Ludwig Maximilian University. He is also Head of the Human Capital and Innovation Research Center at the Ifo Institute for Economic Research. After studying in Marburg, Canterbury and Kiel, Wößmann earned his Ph.D. in Kiel and did his tenure at the Technical University of Munich. Between 1999 and 2003, he worked at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and since 2004, he has also been the Head of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research in Munich. Furthermore, he has lectured as visiting professor at Harvard and Stanford Universities.

Wößmann is a fellow at the International Academy of Education, Coordinator for the Network of Economics of Education in Europe (EENEE) and is a member of numerous advisory committees in the area of education and economics. His research on efficiency and equal opportunities in educational systems has earned him many awards, including the Choppin Memorial Award from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, the Young Economist Award from the European Economic Association and the EIB Prize from the European Investment Bank.

Awards Committee

Dr. h.c. Kofi Annan, former Secretary oft the United Nations,
Nobel Peace Prize laureate

Prof. Dr. h.c. Roland Berger, Chairman of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants

Dr. Shirin Ebadi, Lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate

Dr. h.c. Joschka Fischer, former Foreign Minister of
the Federal Republic of Germany

Dr. Maria Furtwängler-Burda, actress and physician

State Secretary Dr. Gert Haller, Head of the Office of
the Federal President of Germany

Prof. Muhammad Yunus, Managing Director of the Grameen Bank,
Nobel Peace Prize laureate

Executive Board

Thorsten Gohlke

Wolfgang Mast

Regina Pötke