Wolf Lepenies (born 11 January 1941) is a German sociologist, political scientist, and author.
Lepenies was born nearAllenstein,East Prussia (now Olsztyn,Poland), in 1945 his family fled[1] from theSoviet Army'sassault on East Prussia toSchleswig-Holstein and from there toNorth Rhine-Westfalia. He eventually grew up inKoblenz. He studied sociology and philosophy at theUniversity of Münster inNorth Rhine-Westphalia and graduated with apromotion in 1967. In 1970 hehabilitated at theFree University of Berlin. He traveled abroad, first to theMaison des sciences de l’homme inParis, then to theInstitute for Advanced Study inPrinceton. In 1984 he joined the faculty of theWissenschaftskolleg inBerlin before becoming a professor of sociology at the Free University of Berlin. He frequently returned to Princeton to conduct research. In 1986 he succeededPeter Wapnewski as president of the Wissenschaftskolleg. In 2001 he was succeeded byDieter Grimm. In 2006 he became aprofessor emeritus.
Lepenies is a member of theRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences.[2]
Since 2004 he has been a member of thesupervisory board ofAxel Springer AG.
