List of Free University of Berlin people
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A list of Free University of Berlin people. Alumni and faculty of the Free University include many scientists, philosophers and politicians, amongst them five Nobel Prize winners and 15 Leibniz laureates.
Prize winners
Nobel laureates
- Herta Müller, novelist and Nobel Prize in Literature (2009) (Professor)
- Gerhard Ertl, physicist and Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2007) (Professor)
- Reinhard Selten, economist and Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (1994) (Professor)
- Ernst Ruska, physicist and Winner of Nobel Prize in Physics (1986) (Professor)
Leibniz Prize winners
The DFG has awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize to outstanding German scientists every year since 1985. As the most acclaimed award for research achievements in Germany, it comes with a research grant of 2.5 million € to be used within seven years.
- Volker Erdmann, Biochemistry (1987)
- Wolfram Saenger, Crystallography (1987)
- Randolf Menzel, Neuroscience (1991), member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
- Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit, Japanese Studies (1992)
- Jürgen Kocka, History (1992)
- Johann Mulzer, Organic chemistry (1994)
- Peter Schaefer, Jewish Studies (1994)
- Emo Welzl, Computer science (1995)
- Onno Oncken, Geology (1998)
- Regine Hengge-Aronis, Microbiology (1998)
- Joachim Küpper, Romance studies (2001), member of the Leopoldina
- Günter M. Ziegler, Mathematics (2001), member of the Leopoldina
- Rupert Klein, Mathematics (2003)
- Gabriele Brandstetter, Theater studies (2004), member of the Leopoldina
- Gyburg Radke, Ancient Greek (2006)
Professors
- Johannes Agnoli, political scientist
- Arnulf Baring, historian and political scientist
- Peter Bieri, philosopher and writer
- Dieter Claessens, sociologist and anthropologist
- Gordon A. Craig, historian and writer
- Peter Eigen, Founder of Transparency International
- Ernst Fraenkel, political scientist
- Günter Faltin, economist
- Paul Feyerabend, philosopher
- Wolfgang Fritz Haug, philosopher
- Roman Herzog, President of Germany (1994–1999)
- Klaus Jacob, political scientist
- Jürgen Kocka, historian
- Herbert Marcuse, sociologist
- Yann Martel, writer
- Friedrich Meinecke, historian
- Ernst Nolte, historian
- Jacob Taubes, sociologist of religion, philosopher, and scholar of Judaism
- Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit, Japanologist
- Reinhard Furrer, scientist and astronaut
- Péter Szondi, literary scholar
- Wolfgang Rautenberg, mathematician
- Stefan Rinke, historian
- Thomas Risse, political scientist
- Raúl Rojas, computer scientist
- Gesine Schwan, political scientist and candidate for the German presidential election, 2004
- Günter M. Ziegler, mathematician
- Georges Tamer, Islamic studies scholar
- Michael Theunissen, philosopher
- Lorenz Weinrich, historian
Alumni
Politicians
- Andrea Fischer, Federal Ministry of Health (1998–2001)
- Annette Groth, politician in the German Left Party
- Devendra Fadnavis, 18th Chief Minister of Maharashtra State of India.
- Eberhard Diepgen, Mayor of (West) Berlin (1984–1989, 1991–2001)
- Fritz Teufel, political activist in the 1960s, founder of Kommune 1
- Günter Rexrodt, Economics Minister of Germany (1993–1998)
- Hans Eichel, Federal Ministry of Finance (1999–2005)
- Hans-Christian Ströbele, vice-leader of the German Green Party in the Bundestag
- Hans-Jürgen Papier, Federal Constitutional Court of Germany (2002–2010)
- Helga Zepp-LaRouche, German political activist, wife of American political activist Lyndon LaRouche
- Herta Däubler-Gmelin, Justice Minister of Germany (1998–2002)
- Ingeborg Gräßle, Member of the European Parliament
- Jan-Marco Luczak, politician and lawyer
- Jutta Limbach, President of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany (1994–2002), President of Goethe-Instituts (2002–2008)
- Klaus Hänsch, President of the European Parliament (1994–1997)
- Klaus Uwe Benneter, German politician
- Mario Laserna Pinzón, Columbian politician
- Marion Caspers-Merk, politician
- Otto Schily, Federal Ministry of the Interior (1998–2005)
- Vassilios Skouris, President of the Court of Justice of the European Communities (since 2003)
- Walter Momper, Mayor of West Berlin (1989–1991)
Others
- Volkmar Braunbehrens, German musicologist
- Reinhold Brinkmann, musicologist
- Christopher Clark, historian
- Mario Kopić, Croatian philosopher and author
- Jonathan Franzen, novelist
- Elmar Kraushaar, journalist and author
- Roman Inderst, economist
- Parag Khanna, Indian American author and analyst in the field of international relations
- Paul Alfred Kleinert, German writer, editor and translator
- Edwin Gentzler, American Germanist and translation scholar
- Lars Clausen, German sociologist
- Shoucheng Zhang, theoretical physicist
- Amity Shlaes, Senior fellow in economic history at the Council on Foreign Relations and syndicated columnist
- Wolfgang Becker, German film director and writer
- Markus Büchler, surgeon and physician
- Götz Aly, journalist, sociologist and historian
- Peter Loewenberg, historian, psychologist and professor at UCLA
- Stefan Heidemann, orientalist
- Jacques de Caso, American historian
- Frank W. Stahnisch, historian
- Gregor Thum, historian
- Michael Stürmer, historian
- Carsten Niemitz, anatomist and ethologist
- José María Pérez Gay, information scientist
- Julian Voss-Andreae, sculptor and physicist
- Bertram Gawronski, social psychologist
- Michael Roes, writer and filmmaker
- Hartmut Zinser, scholar in the field of religious studies and ethnology
- Gudrun Ensslin, Terrorist
- David Madden (Jeopardy! contestant), Jeopardy! contestant and art historian
Honorary degrees
During its history, Free University has awarded various people with an honorary degree, amongst them:
- 1949: Ernst Reuter, Theodor Heuss
- 1956: Lise Meitner by the Department of Physics
- 1963: Walter Gropius by the Department of Philosophy
- 1964: Robert F. Kennedy by the Department of Philosophy
- 1998: Paul Krugman by the JFK Institute for North American Studies
- 1999: Bronislaw Geremek by the Otto Suhr Institute, Salman Rushdie by the Department of Philosophy and Humanities
- 2001: Kofi Anan by the Department of Political and Social Sciences
- 2005: Günter Grass and Imre Kertész by the Department of Philosophy and Humanities
- 2006: Marcel Reich-Ranicki by the Department of Philosophy and Humanities, Theodor W. Hänsch by the Department of Physics
- 2007: Orhan Pamuk by the Department of Philosophy and Humanities
- 2008: Cees Nooteboom by the Department of Philosophy and Humanities
- 2010: Ed Diener by the Department of Education and Psychology, Jagdish Bhagwati by the School of Business and Economics
- 2012: Homi K. Bhabha by the Department of Philosophy and Humanities, George M. Whitesides by the Department of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy