“Founded by Reinhard Mohn, the Bertelsmann Stiftung has really provided society with new momentum over the past years in a number of critical policy areas while inspiring numerous reforms,” Thielen said on becoming head of the organization. “My overriding goal is to ensure the foundation’s credibility and to continue to increase its visibility through an increased concentration on substantive project work. In addition, we want to expand our international focus and do more than in the past to address the impacts stemming from globalization.”
The membership of the Bertelsmann Stiftung Board of Trustees has also changed. Reinhard Mohn has asked five people to join the supervisory body: Wolf Bauer, executive director of UFA Film & TV Produktion; Prof. Uwe Bicker, trustee of the Aventis Foundation and chairman of the DadeBehring Holdings Supervisory Board; Dr. Karl-Gerhard Eick, deputy chairman of Deutschen Telekom; Eduardo Montes, executive advisor to the CEO of Siemens; and Prof. Thomas Rauschenbach, chairman and director of the German Youth Institute.
Additional members of the Board of Trustees include Prof. Dieter Vogel, chair; Liz Mohn, vice-chair; Reinhard Mohn, Bertelsmann Stiftung founder; Prof. Werner J. Bauer, executive vice-president, Nestlé SA and chair of the Nestlé Deutschland Supervisory Board; Dr. Wulf H. Bernotat, chairman of the Board of Management of E.ON AG; Prof. Klaus-Dieter Lehmann, currently president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and, as of April 1, 2008, president of the Goethe Institute; Prof. Elisabeth Pott, director of the German Federal Center for Health Education; Dr. Wolfgang Schüssel, former chancellor of Austria; and Klaus-Peter Siegloch, head of ZDF broadcasting company’s Washington bureau.
The following members have left the Board of Trustees at the end of their planned tenure: Dr. Hubertus Erlen, vice-chair of the Bayer Schering Pharma Supervisory Board; Caio K. Koch-Weser, vice-chairman of Deutschen Bank and former undersecretary at the German Finance Ministry; and Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, CEO of SonyBMG.
About the Bertelsmann Stiftung
The Bertelsmann Stiftung is dedicated to serving the common good. It executes projects in its four core areas of education, business and social affairs, health, and international relations, and strives to promote peaceful coexistence among the world's diverse cultures. Through the example of its civic engagement, it wants to encourage other individuals and organizations to support their own communities as well. Founded in 1977 as a registered charity, the Bertelsmann Stiftung is majority shareholder of Bertelsmann AG. Structured as a private operating foundation, it is politically non-partisan and works independently of Bertelsmann AG.