34 Notable alumni of University of Bielefeld

Updated: June 08, 2026 EliteDegrees

University of Bielefeld is 390st in the world, 1st in North America, and 34st in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 34 notable alumni from University of Bielefeld sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with University of Bielefeld won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.

Detlef Müller

1. Detlef Müller

1954-. (aged 72)
mathematician
Detlef Horst Müller is a German mathematician, specializing in analysis.
Ulrich Mescheder

2. Ulrich Mescheder

physicist
Ulrich Mescheder is a German professor and university administrator. He heads the Central Research Institute and the Technology Laboratory for Micro- and Nanosystems and is Vice President for Research at Furtwangen University of Applied Sciences. His research specializations are microsystems technology and nanotechnology.
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Bernhard Roth

3. Bernhard Roth

1970-. (aged 56)
physicist university teacher
Bernhard Wilhelm Roth is a German experimental physicist.
Joachim Cuntz

4. Joachim Cuntz

1948-. (aged 78)
mathematician university teacher
Joachim Cuntz is a German mathematician, currently a professor at the University of Münster.
Vajja Sambasiva Rao

5. Vajja Sambasiva Rao

1953-. (aged 73)
Vajja Sambasiva Rao, also known as V. S. Rao is an Indian academic and the former President of NIIT University. Relinquishing his position at NIIT University on 30 June 2020, he embraced the role of Vice-Chancellor at SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh from 1 July 2020. He was previously the Acting Vice-Chancellor of BITS Pilani, and the Director of the Hyderabad...
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Tim Ostermann

6. Tim Ostermann

1979-. (aged 47)
lawyer politician
Tim Ostermann is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2013 till 2017 and again since 2021.
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Michael Röckner

7. Michael Röckner

1956-. (aged 70)
university teacher scientist mathematician
Michael Röckner is a mathematician working in the fields of Stochastic analysis and Mathematical Physics.
Volkmar Gessner

8. Volkmar Gessner

1937-2014 (aged 77)
jurist sociologist judge university teacher
Volkmar Gessner was a German university professor and a socio-legal scholar.
Jochen Liedtke

9. Jochen Liedtke

1953-2001 (aged 48)
computer scientist engineer university teacher
Jochen Liedtke was a German computer scientist, noted for his work on microkernel operating systems, especially in creating the L4 microkernel family.
Elena Esposito

10. Elena Esposito

1960-. (aged 66)
university teacher professor sociologist
Elena Esposito is an Italian sociologist who works in the field of social systems theory. She teaches subjects such as general sociology, foresight, and the futures of public policy at Bielefeld University (Germany) and the University of Bologna (Italy). Her research is inspired by Luhmannian social systems theory.
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Burkhard Schwenker

11. Burkhard Schwenker

1958-. (aged 68)
university teacher adviser business consultant
Burkhard Schwenker is a German business consultant. He was CEO of Roland Berger (then called Roland Berger Strategy Consultants) from 2003 until July 2010, when he was appointed head of the supervisory board of the firm. He was CEO again from May 2013 to July 2014, after his successor/antecessor Martin C. Wittig stepped back for health reasons. He again was...
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Detlef Weigel

12. Detlef Weigel

1961-. (aged 65)
university teacher biologist
Detlef Weigel is a German American scientist working at the interface of developmental and evolutionary biology.
Robin Wagener

13. Robin Wagener

1980-. (aged 46)
articled clerk referent research assistant member of the German Bundestag jurist
Robin Till Nils Johannes Wagener is a German judge and politician of the Alliance 90/The Greens who has been a member of the Bundestag in the 2021 German federal election, representing the Lippe I district.
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Ingo Althöfer

14. Ingo Althöfer

1961-. (aged 65)
computer scientist board game designer mathematician
Ingo Althöfer is a German mathematician and former professor of operations research at the University of Jena.
Rainer Wend

15. Rainer Wend

1954-. (aged 72)
politician
Rainer Wend is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and currently lobbyist for Deutsche Post DHL. From 2002 to 2005, he was chairman of the Bundestag-Committee Economics and Labour as well as spokesman of the SPD parliamentary party on Economic Affairs from 2005 till 2009. In July 2012, he was elected President of European Movement Germany.
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Volker Mehrmann

16. Volker Mehrmann

1955-. (aged 71)
mathematician university teacher
Volker Ludwig Mehrmann is a German mathematician known for research in numerical linear algebra, differential-algebraic equations, and control theory. He is on the editorial staffs of several journals, including Linear Algebra and Its Applications and Numerische Mathematik. From 2019 to 2022 he was president of the European Mathematical Society (EMS).
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Ute Frevert

17. Ute Frevert

1954-. (aged 72)
historian university teacher
Ute Frevert is a German historian. She is a specialist in modern and contemporary German history, as well as social and gender history. In January 2008, she was appointed managing director of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and director of the Institute's Center for History of Emotions in Berlin.
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Wiebke Esdar

18. Wiebke Esdar

1984-. (aged 42)
historian social scientist psychologist politician
Wiebke Esdar is a German psychologist and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). She has been a member of the Bundestag since the 2017 election, when she won the constituency of Bielefeld – Gütersloh II with 33.2% of the votes.
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Johannes Vogel

19. Johannes Vogel

1963-. (aged 63)
university teacher botanist scientific collector
Johannes Christian Vogel FLS FAAAS is a German botanist, who since 1 February 2012 has been Director General of the Museum für Naturkunde and Professor of Biodiversity and Public Science at Humboldt University, both in Berlin. He previously held the post of Keeper of Botany at the Natural History Museum in the United Kingdom from 2004 to 2012.
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Torsten Albig

20. Torsten Albig

1963-. (aged 63)
jurist politician
Torsten Albig is a German politician from the Social Democratic Party of Germany. From 2012 until 2017 he served as the 13th Minister President of Schleswig-Holstein. Since 2023, he has been the head of external affairs at Philip Morris International's German subsidiary.
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Matthias Blübaum

21. Matthias Blübaum

1997-. (aged 29)
chess player
Matthias Blübaum is a German chess grandmaster. He won the European Individual Chess Championship in 2022 and in 2025.
Andrew Moravcsik

22. Andrew Moravcsik

1957-. (aged 69)
music critic journalist political scientist university teacher
Andrew Maitland Moravcsik is professor of politics and international affairs, director of the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, and founding director of the European Union Program and the International Relations Faculty Colloquium at Princeton University. Moravcsik is known for his academic research and policy writing on European integration, international organizations and for developing the theory of liberal intergovernmentalism.
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Frank Schäffler

23. Frank Schäffler

1968-. (aged 58)
industrial management assistant business manager politician
Frank Schäffler is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has served as a member of the Bundestag from 2005 to 2013 and again from 2017 to 2025.
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Jens Teutrine

24. Jens Teutrine

1993-. (aged 33)
student politician
Jens Teutrine is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who served as a member of the Bundestag from 2021 to 2025, representing the Herford – Minden-Lübbecke II district. From 2020 until 2021 he served as the chairman of the party’s youth organisation, the Young Liberals (Julis).
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Stefan Raab

25. Stefan Raab

1966-. (aged 60)
comedian entrepreneur television producer musician entertainer
Stefan Konrad Raab is a German entertainer, television host, producer, and businessman. From 1999 to 2015, he hosted the late-night comedy talk show TV total on ProSieben and also created a number of other television shows on the channel, most notably Schlag den Raab and Bundesvision Song Contest.
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Yao Li-ming

26. Yao Li-ming

1952-. (aged 74)
pundit politician university teacher
Yao Li-ming is a Taiwanese political scientist, politician, and political commentator. He was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1995 as a member of the New Party, then withdrew from the party before concluding his term in 1999. Yao ran for reelection in 2008, while affiliated with the Home Party and was not elected. He later worked for Ko Wen-je's...
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Britta Haßelmann

27. Britta Haßelmann

1961-. (aged 65)
social worker politician
Britta Maria Haßelmann is a German politician of Alliance 90/The Greens who has been serving as co-chair of the Green Party’s parliamentary group in the Bundestag since 2021, alongside Katharina Dröge. From 2013 until 2021, she was the group’s first manager (Erste Parlamentarische Geschäftsführerin). She has been a member of the Bundestag since 2005.
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Marieluise Beck

28. Marieluise Beck

1952-. (aged 74)
politician pedagogue
Marieluise Beck is a German politician who served as member of the Alliance '90/The Greens group in the Bundestag until 2017. She was also a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
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Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger

29. Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger

1951-. (aged 75)
human rights defender jurist politician
Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger [zaˈbiːnə ˈlɔʏthɔʏsɐ ˈʃnaʀənˌbɛɐ̯ɡɐ] is a German politician of the liberal Free Democratic Party and a prominent advocate of human rights in Germany and Europe. Within the FDP, she is a leading figure of the social-liberal wing. She served as Federal Minister of Justice of Germany from 1992 to 1996 in the cabinet of Helmut Kohl and again in...
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Claudia Kemfert

30. Claudia Kemfert

1968-. (aged 58)
expert witness economist university teacher
Claudia Kemfert is a German economist focussing on energy research and environmental protection. She was a Professor of Energy Economics and Sustainability at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin until 2019. She heads the Energy, Transportation, and Environment department at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin).
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Karoline Linnert

31. Karoline Linnert

1958-. (aged 68)
politician
Karoline Linnert is a German politician of the Alliance '90/The Greens. From 2007 until 2019, she served as Senator of Finance and Mayor of the city-state of Bremen. During her time in office, she was one of two people holding the title Mayor, the other being Carsten Sieling, the President of the Senate of Bremen.
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Christoph Thiele

32. Christoph Thiele

1968-. (aged 58)
mathematician university teacher
Christoph Thiele is a German mathematician working in the field of harmonic analysis. After completing his undergraduate studies at TU Darmstadt and Bielefeld University, he obtained his Ph.D. in 1995 at Yale under the supervision of Ronald Coifman. After spending time at UCLA, where he was promoted to full professor, he occupied the Hausdorff Chair at the University of Bonn.
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Niklas Luhmann

33. Niklas Luhmann

1927-1998 (aged 71)
social scientist jurist lawyer sociologist cyberneticist
Niklas Luhmann was a German sociologist, philosopher of social science, and systems theorist.
Vanessa Hegelmaier

34. Vanessa Hegelmaier

1987-. (aged 39)
model
Anna Vanessa Hegelmaier is a German fashion model, who placed ninth in the third cycle of the reality television show Germany's Next Top Model after withdrawing due to a brain concussion.
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