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Johanna Wanka
Federal Minister of Education and Research
In office 14 February 2013 – 14 March 2018
Chancellor	Angela Merkel
Preceded by	Annette Schavan
Succeeded by	Anja Karliczek
Minister of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony
In office 27 April 2010 – 13 February 2013
Prime Minister	David McAllister
Preceded by	Lutz Stratmann
Succeeded by	Gabriele Heinen-Kljajić
Leader of theChristian Democratic Union inBrandenburg
In office 29 October 2008 – 27 April 2010
Preceded by	Ulrich Junghanns
Succeeded by	Saskia Ludwig
Deputy Minister President of Brandenburg
In office 4 November 2008 – 4 November 2009
Prime Minister	Matthias Platzeck
Preceded by	Ulrich Junghanns
Succeeded by	Helmuth Markov
Minister of Science, Research and Culture of Brandenburg
In office 17 October 2000 – 4 November 2009
Prime Minister	Matthias Platzeck
Preceded by	Wolfgang Hackel
Succeeded by	Sabine Kunst
Member of theLandtag of Brandenburg
In office 19 September 2004 – 27 April 2010
Personal details
Born	(1951-04-01)1 April 1951 (age 73) Rosenfeld,East Germany
Political party	Christian Democratic Union
Spouse	Gert Wanka [de]
Children	2
Alma mater	Leipzig University

Johanna Wanka (néeMüller; born 1 April 1951) is a German politician of theChristian Democratic Union (CDU) who served asfederal minister for education and research in the government ofChancellorAngela Merkel from 2013 until 2018. From 2000 to 2009, she served as minister for science, research and culture of the state ofBrandenburg, then from 2010 to 2013 she served as minister of science and culture of the state ofLower Saxony, in theCabinet McAllister.

Wanka was born on 1 April 1951. She attended thePolytechnic Secondary School inGroßtreben and the advanced school inTorgau before studying mathematics atLeipzig University in theGDR. From 1974 on, she was a research assistant atMerseburg University of Applied Sciences, where she received her doctorate in 1980. In 1993 she became professor of engineering mathematics at Merseburg University of Applied Sciences. In March 1994, she was electedrector of that university, a position she retained until taking office as minister in October 2000.

Wanka joined the East German citizens' movement in early 1989. She was a founding member of theNeues Forum in Merseburg and was a member of the Kreistag Merseburg from 1990 until 1994.^[1]

Wanka joined the CDU in 2001, the CDU executive in Brandenburg in May 2003, and became chair of the Dahme-Spreewald district in December 2003. She was appointed deputy national chair of the CDU Brandenburg in January 2007, acting national chair in October 2008, and national chair by January 2009.^[2]

From 2000 to 2009 Wanka was the state minister for science, research and cultural affairs of Brandenburg,^[3] first in the government of Minister-PresidentManfred Stolpe (2000–2002) and later under his successorMatthias Platzeck (2002–2009). As such she was president of theKultusministerkonferenz, an association of all state ministers for this area, in 2005.

From 2010 to 2013 Wanka served as state minister of science and culture of the state ofLower Saxony, in theCabinet McAllister; she became the first East German to become a minister in a state government in the former West Germany.^[4] She was also a CDU delegate to theFederal Convention for the purpose of electing thepresident of Germany in 2010.

In February 2013, Wanka succeededAnnette Schavan as federal minister of education and research in the government ofChancellorAngela Merkel. During the negotiations to form acoalition government following the2013 federal elections, she led the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on education and research; her co-chair from the SPD wasDoris Ahnen.^[5]

• Einstein Foundation Berlin, Member of the Advisory Board (since 2020)^[6]
• Berlin-Brandenburg Institute for Franco-German Cooperation in Europe, member of the board of trustees
• Braunschweigische Stiftung, member of the advisory board^[7]
• Deutsche Telekom Foundation, member of the board of trustees
• Deutscher Zukunftspreis, ex officio member of the board of trustees (2013–2018)^[8]
• German Forum for Crime Prevention (DFK), ex officio member of the board of trustees^[9]
• Ernst Reuter Foundation for Advanced Study, vice-chair of the board of trustees^[10]
• Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, ex officio member of the senate (2013–2018)^[11]
• Konrad Adenauer Foundation, member^[12]
• Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, member of the board of trustees^[13]
• Total E-Quality initiative, member of the board of trustees^[14]
• Volkswagen Foundation, member of the board of trustees (2012–2016)^[15][16][17]

During Wanka's term as president of the Kultusministerkonferenz, the controversialGerman orthography reform was put into place. After continued discussion in July 2005 about the reform which was to be put into force by August 2005, Wanka pushed the state ministers to go ahead without delays. However, few months after her term as president had ended, she was quoted by the influential German journalDer Spiegel as follows: "The ministers of Culture have long known that thespelling reform was wrong. For reasons of state, it has not been withdrawn."

• Lösung von Kontakt- und Steuerproblemen mit potentialtheoretischen Mitteln (Solution of contact and steering problems with potential-theoretical methods). Dissertation A (first dissertation) submitted to the Faculty of Technical Science and Mathematics at the Technische Hochschule Leuna, Merseburg, 1980.
• Johanna Wanka (Ed.): Meeting of young scientists at the Fachhochschule Merseburg. Applied Science Conference. Aachen: Shaker, 2001, 216 S.,ISBN 3-8265-8356-6.
• Foreword by Johanna Wanka in – Elke Schieber (eds): The archive of the directorFrank Beyer. Filmmuseum Potsdam. Potsdam, Berlin: Filmmuseum Potsdam and Cultural Foundation of the Länder, 2004, p. 88.

Wanka is married to mathematics professorGert Wanka [de] with whom she has two children.^{[citation needed]}

Wikimedia Commons has media related toJohanna Wanka.

• Johanna Wanka in theGerman National Library catalogue
• Johanna Wanka at theMathematics Genealogy Project

• 1951 births
• Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians
• Education ministers of Germany
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• Members of the Landtag of Brandenburg
• People from Nordsachsen
• 20th-century German politicians
• 20th-century German women politicians
• 21st-century German politicians
• 21st-century German women politicians
• Women federal government ministers of Germany
• Ministers of the Lower Saxony State Government
• Ministers of the Brandenburg State Government

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