Michael Brenner (born 4 January 1964) is a German historian who researches and publishes on the history of Jews and Israel.
[1] Brenner, who frequently takes positions on public issues, is a proponent of a Muslim for the office of Federal President.
[4][5] In 1981, Michael Brenner won the first prize of the German-wide Federal President's History Competition among 13,000 competitors.
[6] From 1998 to 2009 Brenner was chair of the academic board of the Wissenschaftliche Arbeitsgemeinschaft des Leo Baeck Instituts in Germany.
[7] On 20 November 2014 German Minister of Justice Heiko Maas awarded Brenner with the highest decoration in Germany, the Federal Cross of Merit during a ceremony at the Leo Baeck Institute, New York[8] On 7 December 2020 The Knapp Family Foundation and the University of Vienna announced the establishment of the Salo W. and Jeannette M. Baron Award for Scholarly Excellence in Research on the Jewish Experience with the award going to Brenner as the first Senior Laureate citing his scholarly work and lived experience bridging the US and Europe.