Dr. Jörg Dräger

Dr. Jörg Dräger, born in 1968, studied Physics with a minor in  Economics at the University of Hamburg, Germany. He then went on to receive a Master of Science (M.Sc.) and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Theoretical Physics from Cornell University, New York, before returning to Germany in 1996 to work for the  management consulting firm Roland Berger.

In 1998, he became CEO of the Northern Institute of Technology, an internationally oriented, private institution of higher education. In 2001, at the age of 33, he took office as Hamburg’s (independent) Minister of Science and Research, and later also as its Minister of Health and Consumer Protection. In addition, he was a member of the Permant Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs and a deputy member of the German Bundesrat.

In 2008, Dräger joined the Bertelsmann Stiftung as a member of its Executive Board. He is responsible for the think-tank’s education and integration programs, serves as CEO of the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE) and mentors young entrepreneurs in the non-profit Founders Foundation, a Bertelsmann Stiftung initiative. In his research he tries to understand how algorithms and the internet change our societies.

In 2022, Dräger became the Executive Director of the Board of Trustees of the Kühne-Stiftung in Switzerland.