Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Von Weizsäcker in 2010 | |
| Born | (1939-06-25)25 June 1939 (age 86) Zürich, Switzerland |
| Occupation(s) | Co-President of theClub of Rome, Former Member of theGerman Bundestag |
Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker (born 25 June 1939) is a German scientist and politician (SPD). He was a member of the GermanBundestag and served as co-president of theClub of Rome jointly withAnders Wijkman from 2011 – 2019.[1]
A member of the prominentWeizsäcker family, he is the son of physicist and philosopherCarl Friedrich von Weizsäcker and nephew of former German presidentRichard von Weizsäcker. Since 1969, he has been married to Christine von Weizsäcker. Together, they have five children, includingMEPJakob von Weizsäcker.
Born inZürich, Switzerland, Weizsäcker spent his childhood inZürich andGöttingen. In 1966, he graduated fromHamburg University with aDiplom in physics. In 1968, he obtained his PhD in biology fromFreiburg University.
In 1972, he was appointed full professor of biology atEssen University. In 1975, he was recruited as president of the then newly-foundedUniversity of Kassel. In 1981, he joined theUnited 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 theWuppertal Institute, soon establishing itself as a leading environmental think tank.
In 1998, he was elected a member of the GermanBundestag for theSocial Democratic Party (SPD) and was re-elected in 2002. As a legislator, he chaired the select committee onglobalization (2000–2002) and the environment committee (2002–2005). After his decision not to run in the 2005 election, he became Dean of theBren School of Environmental Science & Management at theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara.[2] He returned to Germany in 2009 where is his an honorary professor atFreiburg University.
A bestselling author in Germany, his English language books includeEarth Politics (1994),Factor Four: Doubling Wealth, Halving Resource Use (1995),Factor 5 (2009) andLimits to Privatization (2005).[3]
