Gerhard Fels

Former Director, Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft ; Former Member, UN Committee for Development Planning

Professor Dr. Gerhard Fels was born in Baumholder, Germany in 1939. Having studied in Bonn and Saarbruecken, he received a doctorate (Dr. rer. pol.) in economics in 1969 at the University of the Saar. Following graduation he worked for the Institut Fuer Weltwirtschaft (Kiel, Germany), where, in 1976, he was promoted to vice president. In 1983, he became Managing Director and Member of the Presidium in the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft Koln. From 1974 to 1985 he was Honorary Professor at the University of Kiel, and from 1985 to 2004 he was Professor at the University of Cologne.

Gerhard Fels has been long been an active participant in German and international economic policy. Thus from 1976 to 1982 he was a member of the German Expert Council on Overall Economic Development, from 1978 to 1982 in the UN-Committee for Development Planning. In 1988 he became a member of the Group of Thirty. His has written widely on applied economics and economic policy. Mr. Fels currently serves on the Supervisory Board of several major corporations.