Werner Weidenfeld (born 2 July 1947,

Cochem Cochem is the seat of and the biggest town in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With just over 5,000 inhabitants, Cochem falls just behind Kusel, in the Kusel district, as Germany's second smallest district seat. Since 7 J ...

) is a German

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. He was a political advisor for Germany–United States relations under different chancellors. He currently serves as rector of the

Alma Mater Europaea Alma Mater Europaea (Latin for "The European nourishing mother", i.e. university) is an international university based in the Austrian city of Salzburg, with campuses in several European cities. It was founded as an initiative by the European Ac ...

.Auf dem Weg zur Implementierung der ALMA MATER EUROPAEA - the European University for Leadership
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Biography

Weidenfeld studied political science, history and philosophy at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

. In 1971 Weidenfeld received his PhD in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

with a dissertation about

Gustav Stresemann Gustav Ernst Stresemann (; 10 May 1878 – 3 October 1929) was a German statesman who served as chancellor in 1923 (for 102 days) and as foreign minister from 1923 to 1929, during the Weimar Republic. His most notable achievement was the reconci ...

's policies towards England. In 1975 he obtained his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including ...

in political science at the

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 stud ...

with a thesis on German European policy in the Adenauer era. From 1975 to 1995 he was professor of political science at the University of Mainz. He was also a professor associé at the Sorbonne in Paris between 1986 and 1988. From 1987 to 1999, he worked under

Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...

as the German government's coordinator for German-American cooperation. In 1992, Weidenfeld became a member of the

Bertelsmann Stiftung The Bertelsmann Stiftung is an independent foundation under private law, based in Gütersloh, Germany. It was founded in 1977 by Reinhard Mohn as the result of social, corporate and fiscal considerations. As the Bertelsmann Stiftung itself ...

Executive Board in

Gütersloh Gütersloh () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the area of Westphalia and the administrative region of Detmold. Gütersloh is the administrative centre for a district of the same name and has a population of 100,194 peo ...

. Since 1995, he was Full Professor of Political Systems and European Unification at the Geschwister Scholl Institute for Political Science at the

Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germ ...

. Since 2000 he has also been a permanent visiting professor at the Chinese People's University in Beijing. Weidenfeld was retired from his position as professor emeritus for the summer semester 2013. Klaus H. Goetz from the

University of Potsdam The University of Potsdam is a public university in Potsdam, capital of the state of Brandenburg, Germany. It is mainly situated across three campuses in the city. Some faculty buildings are part of the New Palace of Sanssouci which is known ...

was appointed as his successor. Until 2005 Weidenfeld was editor of the journal ''

Internationale Politik ''Internationale Politik'' (''IP'') is the magazine of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für auswärtige Politik (DGAP, German Society on Foreign Relations). It covers contemporary topics in international affairs under editor-in-chief Martin Bialecki ...

''. In 2012 he was appointed Rector of the

by the

European Academy of Sciences and Arts The European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA, la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Europaea) is a transnational and interdisciplinary network, connecting about 2,000 recommended scientists and artists worldwide, including 37 Nobel Prize laur ...

. He took up this position after his retirement from the LMU Munich in 2013. He was also a visiting professor at the Zeppelin University.

References

1947 births Living people German political scientists University of Bonn alumni Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany {{Germany-scientist-stub