Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker
Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Von Weizsäcker in 2010 | |
| Born | 25 June 1939 Zürich, Switzerland |
| Nationality | German |
| Occupation(s) | Co-President of the Club of Rome, Former Member of the German Bundestag |
Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker (born 25 June 1939) is a German scientist and politician (SPD). He was a member of the German Bundestag and served as co-president of the Club of Rome jointly with Anders Wijkman from 2011 – 2019.[1]
Family
[edit]A member of the prominent Weizsäcker family, he is the son of physicist and philosopher Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker and nephew of former German president Richard von Weizsäcker. Since 1969, he has been married to Christine von Weizsäcker. Together, they have five children, including MEP Jakob von Weizsäcker.
Youth and education
[edit]Born in Zürich, Switzerland, Weizsäcker spent his childhood in Zürich and Göttingen. In 1966, he graduated from Hamburg University with a Diplom in physics. In 1968, he obtained his PhD in biology from Freiburg University.
Career
[edit]In 1972, he was appointed full professor of biology at Essen University. In 1975, he was recruited as president of the then newly-founded University of Kassel. In 1981, he joined the United Nations in New York as director at the UN Center for Science and Technology. From 1984 to 1991 he headed the Institute for European Environmental Policy in Bonn. In 1991, Weizsäcker became founding president of the Wuppertal Institute, soon establishing itself as a leading environmental think tank.
In 1998, he was elected a member of the German Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and was re-elected in 2002. As a legislator, he chaired the select committee on globalization (2000–2002) and the environment committee (2002–2005). After his decision not to run in the 2005 election, he became Dean of the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara.[2] He returned to Germany in 2009 where is his an honorary professor at Freiburg University.
A bestselling author in Germany, his English language books include Earth Politics (1994), Factor Four: Doubling Wealth, Halving Resource Use (1995), Factor 5 (2009) and Limits to Privatization (2005).[3]
Other activities
[edit]- Commerzbank, Member of the Sustainability Advisory Board (since 2022)[4]
Awards and honours
[edit]- 2000 – Honorary doctorate of Sōka University
- 2001 – Takeda Award
- 2008 – German Environmental Prize[5]
- 2009 – Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- 2011 – Theodor Heuss Prize
- 2012 – Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg
- Honorary Councillor of the World Future Council
References
[edit]- ^ "Club of Rome Website". Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ "CV at World Future Council". Archived from the original on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ "CV". Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ Sustainability Advisory Board Commerzbank.
- ^ "2008 German Environmental Award Winner". Archived from the original on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
External links
[edit]
- 1939 births
- Living people
- Members of the Bundestag for Baden-Württemberg
- Members of the Bundestag 2002–2005
- Members of the Bundestag 1998–2002
- Politicians from Zurich
- Weizsäcker family
- Club of Rome members
- Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts
- Non-fiction environmental writers
- Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg
- Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany
- Scientists from Zurich