Ludger Kühnhardt


Ludger Kühnhardt is a German political scientist, born in Münster. Since 1997 he has been Director at the Center for European Integration Studies, which he helped to found, and Professor of Political Science at Bonn University.

Education

After studies of history, philosophy and political science at Bonn, Geneva, Tokyo and Harvard, Kühnhardt wrote a dissertation on the world refugee problem and a second thesis on the universality of human rights. He was a student of Karl Dietrich Bracher.

Career

Between 1991 and 1997 Kühnhardt was Professor of Political Science at Freiburg University, where he also served as Dean of his Faculty. He was speechwriter for Germany’s Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker and a visiting professor at prestigious universities around the world, including the University of Cape Town, College of Europe, Dartmouth College, Stanford University, Seoul National University, St Antony's College, Oxford, Canterbury University, Christchurch and Tongji University Shanghai.
Kühnhardt regularly lectures at the Catholic University of Milan, at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna and at the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies MEDAC in Malta. He was a Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Human Sciences, Vienna and a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C.. Kühnhardt has intensive political and academic consulting experience, including for the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and for the President of the European Parliament. He is a member of the Advisory Board for Societal Affairs of the German Bishop’s Conference, a member of the Scientific Committee of the West Africa Institute, a member of the Governing Board of the European Humanities University, Vilnius, and a member of the Advisory Board of OMFIF. Kühnhardt has lectured on all continents. In 2004 he was awarded the European Science Prize of the European Cultural Foundation.