Council & Foundation

Lennart Bernadotte Haus

The Council

The Council for the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings was founded in 1954, three years after the first Lindau Meeting, to secure their existence and shape their future development. Count Lennart Bernadotte, one of the three founders of the meetings, became the first president of the Council.

The purpose of the Council is to organise the annual meetings on the basis of an elaborate scientific programme. This includes the establishment and maintenance of close relations with scientific partners worldwide.

The Council will ensure that eligible and qualified young scientists get the chance to participate in the Lindau Meetings. In this regard, the Council is also responsible for the acquisition of financial means for organising the meetings – in close collaboration with the Foundation. The Council maintains an executive secretariat in Lindau.

Council Members

Honorary President

Count Lennart Bernadotte af Wisborg (†)

President

Countess Bettina Bernadotte af Wisborg

Vice Presidents

Heiner Linke

Wolfgang Lubitz

Treasurer

Nikolaus Turner

Members

Rainer Blatt

Thomas Ellerbeck

Klas Kärre

Stefan H. E. Kaufmann

Jürgen Kluge

Hartmut Michel

Valeria Nicolosi

Torsten Persson

Klaus Schmidt

Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede

Corresponding Members

Astrid Gräslund

Hans Jörnvall

Thomas Perlmann

Christoph Philipp

Permanent Guests

Claudia Alfons,
Mayor of the town of Lindau

Christof Widmer,
Chairman of the Education, Science and Research Commission of the International Lake Constance Conference (IBK)

The Foundation

The Foundation Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings was established in the year 2000 upon the initiative of fifty Nobel Laureates.

In general, the Foundation’s objective is to promote science, research, and related societal activities. In particular, its main purpose is to ensure the continuance and further development of the Lindau Meetings. This includes the support of outreach projects and initiatives.

The members of the most prestigious committee of the Foundation, the Honorary Senate, are valued advisors to the board of directors and distinguished ambassadors for the cause of the Lindau Meetings.

The Foundation is registered on Mainau Island. In the interest of a close collaboration with the Council, the office of the Foundation is also based in Lindau.

Founders’ Assembly

Through their membership in the Founders’ Assembly, Nobel Laureates demonstrate their strong support of the Lindau Meetings and entrust the Foundation with the consistent further development of Lindau’s intergenerational dialogue. To date, more than 370 Nobel Laureates constitute the assembly.

Honorary Senate

The most prestigious committee of the Foundation Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings is the Honorary Senate. Its members function as advisors to the board and distinguished ambassadors for the cause of the Lindau Meetings:

Josef Ackermann, Former CEO of Deutsche Bank AG

Suleiman Jasir Al-Herbish, Director-General of the OPEC Fund for International Development

José Manuel Barroso, Former President of the European Commission

Ernesto Bertarelli, Former CEO Serono S.A. and Two-time winner of America’s Cup

Christof Bosch, Member of the Board of Trustees of the Robert Bosch Stiftung

Volkmar Denner, Former Chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH

Martin T:son Engstroem, Founder and Managing Director of the Verbier Festival and Academy

William H. Gates III, Co-chair and Trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Ulrich Grete, Member of the Board of Trustees of the Ecoscientia Foundation

Bertrand Gros, Chairman of the Board of Rolex SA

Roman Herzog (†), Former Federal President of Germany

Klaus J. Jacobs (†), Founder of the Jacobs Foundation

Henning Kagermann, President of the acatech – National Academy of Science and Engineering

Walter B. Kielholz, Chairman of the supervisory board and former CEO of Swiss Re

Klaus Kleinfeld, Former Chairman & CEO, Siemens AG, Germany and Alcoa Inc./Arconic Inc., United States

Malcolm D. Knight, Former Vice Chairman of Deutsche Bank AG

Pamela Mars, Member of the Board of Directors of Mars, Inc.

Angela Merkel, Former Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany

Joachim Milberg, Former CEO of BMW AG / Former President of acatech – National Academy of Science and Engineering

Marius Müller-Westernhagen, German singer and songwriter

Ferdinand K. Piëch (†), Former Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG

Johannes Rau (†), Former Federal President of Germany

Annette Schavan, Former German Federal Minister of Education and Research

Thomas Schmidheiny, Member of the Board of Directors of LafargeHolcim Ltd

Shri Kapil Sibal, Indian Minister for Law and Justice

HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, Member of the Thai Royal Family

Gunnar Stålsett, Bishop emeritus of Oslo and member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee

Edmund Stoiber, Former Minister-President of Bavaria

Marcus Storch, Former Chairman of the Nobel Foundation

Tony Tan, President of the Republic of Singapore

Erwin Teufel, Former Minister-President of Baden-Wuerttemberg

Klaus Tschira (†), Co-founder of SAP AG and founder and Executive Director of the Klaus Tschira Foundation

Daniel Vasella, Former CEO of Novartis AG

Ulrich Wilhelm, Former Director General of Bayerischer Rundfunk (Bavarian Broadcasting)

Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker, Secretary General of the Human Frontier Science Program

Martin Winterkorn, Former Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG

Hansjörg Wyss, Swiss entrepreneur and philantropist