Team Working Together in a Spirit of Trust

Chairwoman

Sabine Kunst has a doctorate in Water Management and Political Science. She received her postdoctoral qualification in Civil Engineering and Surveying from the Department of Civil Engineering and Surveying at the University of Hannover in 1990. Following on from this, she assumed the position of chair of the Department of Bioprocess Engineering at the University of Hannover from 1991 to 2007. Kunst then took on the role of president at the University of Potsdam between 2007 and 2010, followed by president of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in 2010 to 2011, and a subsequent switch to politics with her appointment as the Minister of Science, Research and Culture for the federal state of Brandenburg. From 2016 to the end of 2021, she acted as president of the Humboldt University of Berlin.

She became a member of the board of the Joachim Herz Foundation on January 15, 2022, and was voted chairwoman on January 19.

Member of the Executive Board

After training as a banking professional, Ulrich Müller studied Business Administration and graduated in 1996. He then worked as a financial planning and controlling advisor at one of Germany’s largest insurance groups. This was followed by three years as Head of Internal Controlling at a large family office and a spell working for a major German reinsurance provider. In the latter firm, he headed up a department and was responsible for strategic asset allocation for capital investments. During that time, he lectured on capital investments in insurance firms at Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society. In 2007, Müller took up a position at CORO Vermögensverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, a company owned by Joachim Herz. Following the establishment of the Joachim Herz Foundation, he was appointed Head of Investments, Financial, Organization and HR. On October 1, 2014, Ulrich Müller became a Member of the Executive Board of the Joachim Herz Foundation. His responsibilities include investments, accounting and HR.

Ulrich Müller is a Member of the Supervisory Board of VTG AG, Hamburg; a Member of the Supervisory Board of IntReal International Real Estate Kapitalverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg, and a Member of the Foundation Financial Officers Group (FFOG), USA, alongside a number of other memberships.

Member of the Executive Board

Dr. Nina Lemmens held various positions at the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) after joining in 1997, most recently Director of the North America Office in New York. With a doctorate in Art History, Lemmens has many years of experience in academic management, having developed and managed numerous transatlantic and international scholarship programs and collaborative projects.

She was appointed to the position of Program Director at the Joachim Herz Foundation on October 1, 2018 and is responsible for the three central program areas – Science, Economics and Personal Development – of the Foundation’s operational project work. Dr. Lemmens’ other positions include Co-Director of the Education working group at the Association of German Foundations, Berlin; the Joachim Herz Foundation’s representative at the General Assembly of the Forum Bildung Digitalisierung, Berlin; Member of Transfer Committee at Universität Hamburg, and Member of the Open Humboldt Circle of Experts at Humboldt Universität, Berlin.