Dr. Norbert Bensel is member of the executive board for the department of transport and logistics at the Deutsche Bahn AG. He completed his studies in chemistry and then his doctoral studies for the degree of Dr. rer. nat. at the Technical University Berlin. He then worked for ten years at Schering AG, most recently as head of personnel development and education and training. After that he held several positions in personnel development at R+V Insurance and Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG he was member of the board of directors responsible for human resources at DaimlerChrysler Services AG from 1996 until 2002. From 2002 to 2005 he was board member responsible for personnel at the Deutsche Bahn AG.

Françoise Bertheaut-Guillet has been managing director of the production company Exilène Films since 1999. She studied law and holds a degree in history. Upon completion of her studies, she worked in the audiovisual department of the French Ministry of Culture from 1981 to 1986. She then held two positions as a television producer before she became a department director at Flash Film in 1992. From 1997 to 1999, she was director of FBG Productions within the Pearson Television Group.

Edelgard Bulmahn has been federal minister for education and research since October 1998. After her studies in political science and English at the University of Hanover, Edelgard Bulmahn was a secondary school teacher at various schools. She became a Member of the German Parliament in 1987, and became a member of the party leadership of the SPD in 1993. From 1998 to 2003 she was SPD party chairperson for Niedersachsen. She has been a member of the SPD chairmanship and chair of the ESA ministerial council since 2001.

Dr. Marion Esch is scientific director and associate manager of Femtec GmbH. She studied media sciences, political science, and education at the Technical University of Berlin and completed her doctorate there at the Institute for Media Sciences. From 1996 to 2002, she was research director of the EAF where she worked on programs including "Innovation through E-Quality-Management". In addition to her responsibilities at Femtec GmbH, she was appointed assistant professor to Prof. Dr. Joachim Hermann in the field of quality management in 2003. Marion Esch is a member of the executive board of the European Academy for Women in Politics and Business Berlin (EAF).

Dr. Allan Fisher is President and CEO of iCarnegie Inc., a Spin-Off of Carnegie Mellon University, USA. He studied chemistry at Princeton University and at the University of Cambridge and completed his doctorate in information studies at Carnegie Mellon University. He is an adjunct professor in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon, and serves on a number of advisory committees for projects and organizations working toward diversity in technology fields, including the Anita Borg Institute and the National Research Council Committee on Women in Science and Engineering. In collaboration with Dr. Jane Margolis - social scientist and expert for gender issues in education - he carried out a program of research and intervention that helped to grow the proportion of women entering the computer science program from 7% in 1995 to 42% in 2000.

Günter Heitmann is a consultant in the field of engineering education. He studied engineering and earned a second degree in business management at the TU Berlin. Günter Heitmann was a founding member of the institute for teaching in higher education at the TU Berlin in 1972, which later became part of the new institute for career training and teaching. From 1969 until 2003, Günter Heitmann was active in research, teaching, and continuing education on national as well as international levels, specializing in research in qualification, teaching, and learning, as well as curriculum development in engineering education. He is a member and fellow of the SEFI (European Society for Engineering Education) and since 2004 he has worked on several EU projects, including TREE (Teaching and Research in Engineering Education) and EUR-ACE (European Accreditation of Engineering Education Programmes), and the English Subject Benchmark Group for engineering education.

Dorothea Jansen has worked as a scientific coordinator and program director for the Technical University of Berlin, the Humboldt University Berlin and the Free University Berlin since 2003. She developed the pan-university program ProFiL. Professionalization for Women in Research and Teaching, which supports female academics on their way to a professorship and prepares them for leadership and management tasks in academics. Dorothea Jansen studied comparative literature, philosophy, psychology, and theater studies at the Free University Berlin. She was then active for several years as a producer for modern dance theater before she took on the position of academic staff member responsible for research and acquisition management at a&o research GmbH, an institute for research and consulting in career psychology and organizational sciences. After that she came to the European Academy for Women in Politics and Business Berlin. She created and directed various career-building programs for young and talented women in academics, politics, and business and managed the online service E-Quality-Management.

Stefan Jenzowsky is Vice President and Head of Business Innovation at Siemens Communication. He studied communications and psychology at the Free University Berlin and the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. Upon completion of his studies, he taught media psychology, media and advertising influences and research in entertainment at the Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich. He has worked for Siemens Information and Communication Networks in Munich since 1999. From 2001 until 2003 he was responsible for the department of Business Innovation within the Siemens ICN Group Strategy. He then moved on to direct the Innovation Board Office, and in 2004 he became head of a Business Innovation Think Tank for situated and mobile communication within the newly founded Siemens Communication.

Dr. Yasmin B. Kafai is Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles, USA. She studied psychology at the Université de Haute Bretagne II in France, as well as at the Technical University of Berlin, and completed her doctoral studies at Harvard University, USA. Yasmin B. Kafai then worked as academic assistant at the institute for psychology (Human-Machine systems) at the TU Berlin. Further academic positions followed in the USA - at Yale University, the University of Michigan, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has been honored several times for her work in the field of science learning and is the author of numerous publications in the fields of gender and information studies.

Susanne Kiefer has been director of the international higher education funding program "Jugend und Wissen" at the central corporate personnel unit at Siemens AG since 2002. After her training as assistant engineer at Siemens AG in Munich, she worked in industrial training and development and in software development for the industrial solutions and services department at the Cologne headquarters. After dedicating two years to her family, Susanne Kiefer resumed her former positions part time and studied general electrical technology at the RFH in Cologne. Upon completion of her studies in 1991, she moved within the same area to the positions of project engineer and later project manager for complex traffic management systems in the department of traffic technology. In 1998, she went to Siemens VDO Automotive AG in Regensburg and worked first as marketing engineer in product development and marketing of automobile information systems, and then as director of marketing for electric steering systems. She then worked for one year as marketing consultant at Siemens Communication.

Johannes Klumpers took on the position of acting head of the unit "Women and Academics" in the European Commission in 2004. In addition, he has served as assistant to the director of "Science and Society," one of the 14 directorates in the general research directorate of the European Commission. He studied Forestry at the University of Munich and earned his doctoral degree in chemistry (wood processing) in France in 1994. Following his studies, he worked in the Swedish pulp paper industry until 1998. That year, he began his work at the European Commission as project officer for research in renewable resources, energy production from biological material, wood products, and pulp and paper chemical engineering.

Prof. Dr. Beate Krais has been a professor of sociology at the Technical University Darmstadt since 1995. She studied sociology at the University of Tübingen and the Free University Berlin. In the years 1970 to 1975, Beate Krais was academic assistant at the Institute for Sociology at the Free University Berlin. From 1975 to 1995 she worked as academic assistant at the Max Planck Institute for education research in Berlin. Her work focuses on sociology of education, research in higher education and academics, sociology of gender relations, and sociological theory.

Dr. Juliane Kronen has worked at The Boston Consulting Group since 1994 and is a partner at the Cologne office. She studied business management in Cologne and in Columbia, Missouri, USA. After her studies, she was academic assistant for consulting and research projects in applied information studies at the Society for Mathematics and Data Processing in the years 1987 until 1993. During this time, she also completed her doctoral thesis on cooperation strategies using information technology at the University of Cologne. At The Boston Consulting Group, she advises companies in all aspects of IT strategy. Her focus is the optimizing of information technology in companies in the telecommunications and industrial goods branches.

Prof. Dr. Kurt Kutzler has been president of the Technical University Berlin since 2002. He studied mathematics and physics and completed his doctoral degree at the Free University Berlin. After his postdoctoral work at the University of Mannheim, Kurt Kurzler was appointed professor at the Institute for Mathematics at the TU Berlin in 1973. In 1984, he was elected as Dean of the Department of Mathematics. Kurt Kutzler was first vice president of the TU Berlin several times between 1984 and 2002. Between 2000 and 2004 he was one of seven vice presidents in the executive committee of the conference of university directors. In this capacity, he was also head of the standing committee for planning and organization.

Dr. Helga Lukoschat is general manager of Femtec GmbH and a co-founder and member of the executive board of the European Academy for Women in Politics and Business (EAF). Helga Lukoschat studied German studies, political science, and history in Erlangen und Berlin. She worked for several years as a journalist and public relations manager in various positions, including as a member of the editorial staff at the tageszeitung and as a researcher for Bündnis 90/The Green Party in Berlin. She has worked on several research projects at the Technical University Berlin in the field of gender studies since 1992, and she completed her doctoral degree with a study of women in executive positions. From 1997 to 1999, she directed the international and acclaimed mentoring program "Preparing Women to Lead".

Madeleine Lüthy, born and raised in Switzerland, has worked at the Dual Career Advice Service of the ETH Zürich since November 2002. After completing secondary school in Zofingen, Madeleine Lüthy lived abroad for several months in France, England, and Sweden. As trained and certified translator (DOZ), Madeleine Lüthy worked for the executive staff of the ETH Zürich from 1994 until 2002.

Anneli Manninen has been Head of Education Policy at Technology Industries of Finland since 2004. After her studies in technical chemistry at the Technical University of Helsinki, she began work in logistic operations at Exxon Chemicals. Later in her career she held positions including manager for vocational education in the Association of Finnish Cities and president in the Walter Hailstrom Institute of Technology. In 1994, Anneli Manninen was named Deputy Director General responsible for vocational and non-university higher education in the Finnish ministry of education. She has been a member of the Leonardo Committee since the mid 1990's.

Dr. Andrew Millington has been managing director of OMNI Communications since 1994. The company was formed to host The PAWS Drama Fund and later lead the EuroPAWS effort for developing science based drama for television, firstly at a UK level (1994 to present) and then at a European level (2001 to present). PAWS (Public Awareness of Science) works for understandable incorporation of scientific and technical content in various media as well as in schools, in continuing education, and in museums, with the goal of changing the public image of science. Andrew Millington studied physics and completed his doctorate at Cambridge University, Great Britain. Upon completion of his studies, he worked as a journalist for the science magazine "Nature." He was a producer at the BBC for factual science and technology programs for more than 20 years, earning several honors and awards for his work.

Kati Najipoor-Schütte is a senior consultant at Egon Zehnder International. She specializes in the recruitment and assessment of chief executive officers and senior executives especially for the automotive and other manufacturing and industrial clients. She holds a doctoral degree in mechanical engineering from the Technical University of Aachen and completed her bachelor's and master's studies in the USA. Ms. Schütte's operational and industrial experience includes several years of technical management in European and U.S. engineering companies. In the course of her career, she also worked as a consultant at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and as a Managing Associate at CSC Index Strategic Consulting (Munich, New York).

Birte Raske has worked as a freelance consultant for organizational development and personnel management processes and as a trainer and coach for managers and leaders in the areas of leadership, communication and conflict resolution, and moderation since 2000. For these areas as well as in project management, Birte Raske has been invited to teach at the School for Economy and Management and at the Bauakademie. Birte Raske is trained in business with a German-French double degree. Until 1995, she worked on a international and comparative research project on the topic of capacity for change in large businesses at the Berlin Center for Social research. From 1995 to 2000, she worked on adjustment projects in the context of the merger at the Bankgesellschaft Berlin, and worked in consulting and development for top leadership positions at the Bankgesellschaft.

Prof. Dr. Burkhard Rauhut became director of the Technical University of Aachen in 1999. He studied mathematics at the Free University of Berlin, at the University of Göttingen, and at the University of Karlsruhe. He completed his doctoral and post-doctoral work at the University of Karlsruhe, and in 1973 he became a professor of statistics and economical mathematics at the Technical University of Aachen. In 1990, Burkhard Rauhut was named dean of the faculty of mathematics, information studies and sciences at the Technical University of Aachen. From 1997 to 1999, he held the position of pro-rector for structure, research, and young scientific talent at the Technical University of Aachen. Burkhard Rauhut is a member of numerous committees for policy in higher education, including the executive committee of the conference of university directors and the directorship of the committee for awarding the international Karlspreis of the City of Aachen.

Teresa Rees is a Pro Vice Chancellor at Cardiff University where she is also a Professor in the School of Social Sciences. She specializes in the analysis of education, training and labor market policies with a gender perspective. She has conducted about 50 research projects. She is a long term expert adviser to the European Commission on gender equality, most recently in science policy. She was the rapporteur for several European Commission projects on women and science and a co-author of the Greenfield report on women and science in the UK. She was made a Commander of the British Empire in 2003 for her services in higher education and equal opportunities.

Dr. Maria Rimini-Döring works as a researcher and manager in Corporate Research at Robert Bosch GmbH. She studied electrical engineering at the University of Pavia, Italy, and completed her doctoral work in the field of experimental physics at the University of Stuttgart. She began her professional career as a trainee at Robert Bosch GmbH and Bosch Telecom. During her time as a researcher at Robert Bosch GmbH, she has given numerous lectures in Germany and abroad on topics including "Women in Engineering and Science". She has been a member of the Bosch Women Network since 1996. In 2005, she was invited by the European Commission to take part in the Working Group on Intersectorial Mobility - Knowledge and Skills Development.

Since July 1999, Prof Dr. Sue Rosser has served as Dean of Ivan Allen College, the liberal arts college at Georgia Institute of Technology, where she is also Professor of History, Technology, and Society. She received her PhD in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. From 1995-1999, she was Director of the Center for Women's Studies and Gender Research and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Florida-Gainesville. In 1995, she was Senior Program Officer for Women's Programs at the National Science Foundation. From 1986 to 1995 she served as Director of Women's Studies at the University of South Carolina, where she was also a Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine in the Medical School. She has edited collections and written approximately 115 journal articles on the theoretical and applied problems of women and science and women's health.

Prof. Dr. Helga Rübsamen-Waigmann has served as Vice President and Global Head of Antiinfectives Research at BAYER Healthcare AG since 2001. She studied chemistry at the University of Münster and also completed her doctoral studies there. She then carried out postdoctoral research at Cornell University Ithaca, USA, at the Universities of Gießen and Cologne and at Harvard University, USA. Helga Rübsamen-Waigmann then became department head at the research institute for chemotherapy at the Georg-Speyer-Haus, Frankfurt, and was appointed scientific and managing director there in 1987. She has taught biochemistry, chemistry, and pharmaceuticals at the University of Frankfurt since completion of her postdoctoral work. She was responsible for virus research at Bayer AG from 1994-2001, and in 2001she took over the position of director of research in new medicine for infectious diseases. Helga Rübsamen-Waigmann is a recipient of the Karl Winnacker Prize. She has also been awarded the Order of Merit First Class of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Mestemacher Prize "Manager of the year" 2004.

Prof. Dr. Barbara Schaeffer-Hegel is founder and chairperson of the board of the European Academy for Women in Politics and Business Berlin (EAF) and chairperson of the board of overseers at Femtec GmbH. She studied political science, history, philosophy, and romance languages, and taught at universities in Bonn, Münster, Vienna, Innsbruck and San Diego. From 1980 until her retirement from university teaching in 2002, she was a professor of education at the Technical University Berlin. She has written numerous publications on questions of political education and problems encountered in research and theory of gender studies, and has led numerous research projects in these fields. She has placed particular emphasis on the lack of presence of women in political and social leadership positions in her work since the 1990's. For her work in gender equality, Barbara Schaeffer-Hegel was awarded the Order of Merit First Class of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Dr. Andreas Schlüter is Secretary-General of the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft. After having finished his studies in Law at the University of Bielefeld and in Economics at the Fernuniversität Hagen he was announced as law assessor in 1984. He worked in several positions at Bertelsmann AG, before becoming Managing Director at Bertelsmann Stiftung in 1995. Since 2000 he has been lawyer in the chambers of Brandi, Droge, Piltz, Heuer und Gronemeyer in Gütersloh, Germany. He habilitated in January 2003 at the Rechtszentrum für Europäische und Internationale Zusammenarbeit der Universität Köln (Law Center for European and International Cooperation at the University of Cologne). Since then he has been teaching as private lecturer at the University of Cologne. From 2004 until the beginning of 2005 he was Secretary-General of the Goethe-Institut.

Dr. Beate Scholz has been director of national and international young talent support at the German Research Foundation (DFG) since 2001. She studied history, political science, society and business at the Universities of Trier and Reading, England. She completed her doctoral studies in history at the University of Cologne. She has worked at the DFG since 1997, beginning as assistant to the board of directors. She is also active on a European level, including her work in the expert group "Benchmarking Human Resources in Research, Technology and Development" of the European Commission from 2000 to 2002. She became chairperson of the European management committee for the European Young Investigator Award in 2004.

After studying biology at the Technical University Munich and earning a degree in biotechnology, Dr. Martina Schraudner worked for the Society for Environmental and Health research in Munich as well as at the Eidgenössische Technical University Zürich. After successful completion of her academic work, Martina Schraudner directed the creation of a working group at the research center Jülich. Shortly thereafter, she was named associate director and speaker for the research center Jülich, in the context of the new orientation of one of the center-wide research programs of the HGF. Upon completion of her postdoctoral work at the Faculty of Agriculture at the Humboldt University Berlin, Martina Schraudner then went to the executive committee for research planning at the Fraunhofer Society, in order to use and deepen her experience in the area of academic development and research strategy. Her work focuses on strategic orientation of the research area life sciences as well as the implementation of gender mainstreaming in research organizations. She has been a member of several impulse committees of the initiative "Partner for Innovation" since 2004. Martina Schraudner is a member of the European Academy for Women in Politics and Business and of the board of directors of Total E-Quality e.V.

Ursula Schwarzenbart is Director of the Global Diversity Office at DaimlerChrysler AG in Stuttgart. She studied political science and German studies in Trier and completed her studies in the social sciences at the University of Tübingen. She began work at DaimlerChrysler AG in 1989 in the fields of internal continuing education, change management, personnel development, and strategic personnel planning. In the year 2000, she directed a company-wide program in leadership evaluation and development. Ursula Schwarzenbart was director of the department of Human Resources for the Mercedes Technology Center from 2001 to 2004.

Dr. Thekla Slosarek has worked as a project manager at Femtec GmbH since 2003. She completed her training as an industry business associate at Siemens AG, and studied business engineering with emphasis on electrical engineering at the TU Berlin, also completing her doctoral studies there in the field of business accounting and monitoring at the institute for business management. As an academic assistant at the TU Berlin and as a freelance instructor, she has taught courses in accounting and controlling since 1990. At Femtec GmbH, Thekla Slosarek is responsible for project planning and management for the Femtec Network and serves as associate manager for quality control and finances.

Dr. Helga Stadler has been university assistant for the work group physics education in the faculty of physics at the University of Vienna since 1992. After her studies in physics education and philosophy and many years of teaching experience, Helga Stadler wrote her dissertation on the topic of physics education in the context of gender studies. Her current work emphasizes training and continuing education of teachers and analysis of teaching and learning processes. Her career experience includes content development and organization of projects for the European Union and the Austrian ministry of education. Helga Stadler is also the author of textbooks and numerous other publications.

Prof. Dr. Elsbeth Stern has been a research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for education research in Berlin since 1997. She completed her psychology degree in Marburg and Hamburg. After her doctoral studies at the University of Hamburg, Elsbeth Stern carried out postdoctoral work in psychology at the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich. Elsbeth Stern has taught at universities in Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.

Dr. Barbara Unteutsch is director of the committee for equality at the University of Stuttgart. After studying romance languages, history, and German studies in Münster and Poitiers, she completed her doctorate in 1987 with a dissertation on the topic of German-French relations. She then taught and carried out research at the faculty for romance languages at the Westphalian Wilhelm University in Münster until 1994. At the University of Stuttgart, she initiated several projects to support women in the sciences and engineering.

Dr. Christiane Wanzeck works in Corporate Branding and Publishing at ThyssenKrupp AG. After studying German studies, politics, and journalism in Münster and teaching at universities in Japan and South Korea, Christiane Wanzeck came to ThyssenKrupp AG in 1991. She maintains and develops the company-wide information system ‚ThyssenKrupp base' and serves as editor in charge of company-wide national and international print publications as well as internet and intranet content and presentation. She is also active in internal and external event management.

Dr. Mara H. Wasburn has been Assistant Professor in the Department of Organizational Leadership and Supervision at Purdue University, Indiana, USA, since 2001. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree at Butler University in Indianapolis, USA, and in 1996 she completed her Master of Science degree at Purdue, followed by her degree Doctor of Philosophy in 1998. She has authored many publications in fields including mentoring, and is also a member of the National Council for Research on Women.

Prof. Dr. Johann-Dietrich Wörner is president of the Technical University of Darmstadt and president of the Conference of European Schools of Advanced Engineering, Education and Research (CESAER) of the European Association of Technical Universities. He studied civil engineering at the TU Berlin and the TH Darmstadt. He was employed by the engineering offices of König und Heunisch for eleven years before beginning his doctoral and postdoctoral studies at the Technical University of Darmstadt. He then became a professor of solid construction at the TH Darmstadt, and served as dean of the department of civil engineering from 1992 to 1994. Johann-Dietrich Wörner was elected to his current position for the first time in 1995, and re-elected in 2001. He is a member of numerous research committees and committees for higher education, including the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences. He has been honored with several honorary doctoral degrees.