Rolf Sieber (December 10, 1929 – July 26, 2020) was a German politician, diplomat, and rector who served as the first Ambassador of East Germany to the United States from 1974 to 1978.
Then from 1967 to 1974, Sieber was chairman of the Interparliamentary Group, which under his leadership sought admission to the International Parliamentary Union (IPU).
This took place in September 1972 at the 60th IPU Conference in Rome and was an important step for the worldwide diplomatic recognition of the GDR from 1973.
He then spent time at the GDR embassy in Stockholm where Ambassador Peter Steglich taught him the tools of diplomacy.
During Sieber's time as ambassador, the first bilateral agreements were concluded between the U.S. and East Germany, the effects of which he and his embassy staff had to prepare and supervise.
After his return to the GDR, Sieber was appointed rector of the Berlin University of Economics on 12 January 1979, replacing Walter Kupferschmidt.
In 1988, together with Karl-Heinz Röder, at the invitation and mediation of the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX), he was received by the Nobel Laureate in Economics Paul Samuelson of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and US Presidential Advisor and Economist John Kenneth Galbraith of Harvard University for a comprehensive scientific exchange of views.
One of his last official acts was the incorporation of the Josef Orlopp Technical School for Foreign Trade into the HfÖ in August 1988.
In retirement, Sieber became involved in the Society for the Protection of Civil Rights and Human Dignity (GBM) and published several writings there.