Gunter Thielen

Gunter Thielen (born 4 August 1942 in Quierschied) was chairman and chief executive officer of the Bertelsmann Stiftung.

[1][2] He graduated from RWTH Aachen University with a PhD in mechanical engineering and economics.

[3] He was a manager at BASF from 1970 to 1976 and a technical director at the Wintershall refinery from 1976 to 1980.

He was CEO of Bertelsmann AG from August 2002[5][6] until January 2008 when he was succeeded by Hartmut Ostrowski.

In 2005, he received the Johns Hopkins University Global Leadership Award.