# List of University of Münster people

This list contains some of the most notable alumni, scientists, lecturer and honorary doctors of the University of Münster (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster).

## Alumni

* Johannes Georg Bednorz (born 1950), Nobel Prize winner (1987)
* Kamla Bhasin (1946–2021), Indian developmental feminist activist
* Walter Blume (SS officer) (1906–1974), SS commander and leader of Sonderkommando 7a, part of the extermination commando group Einsatzgruppe B.
* Tobias Böckers (born 1964), medical academic
* Lars Clausen (1935-2010), sociologist
* Wolfgang Clement (1940–2020), politician
* Kai Diekmann (born 1964), Chief Editor of Bild, Europe's largest newspaper (3.5 million copies)
* Andreas Raymond Dombret (born 1960), Münster School of Business Administration and Economics; member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank; former Vice-Chairman Europe Bank of America, Director Germany, Austria, Swiss
* Gerd Faltings (born 1954), mathematician, Fields Medal
* Dieter Fenske (born 1942), chemist
* Birgit Fischer (born 1962), athlete
* Friedhelm Gehrmann (born 1939), economist and social scientist
* Monika Grütters (born 1962), politician
* August Hanning (born 1946), President of the Bundesnachrichtendienst
* Gustav Heinemann (1899–1976), politician, former President of Germany
* Matthias Hentze (born 1960), Associate Director, European Molecular Biology Laboratory
* Friedrich Hirzebruch (1927–2012), mathematician
* Thomas Hoeren (born 1961), intellectual property judge and lawyer
* Erich Kamke (1890–1961), mathematician
* Hans Langmaack (born 1934), computer scientist and mathematician
* Pia Lamberty (born 1984), social psychologist and co-founder of the Center for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy
* Jens Lehmann (born 1969), footballer (goalkeeper) of the German football team
* Ursula von der Leyen (born 1958), doctor; President of the European Commission
* Wilhelmine Lübke (1885–1981), First Lady
* Niklas Luhmann (1927–1998), sociologist
* Ulrike Marie Meinhof (1934–1976), member of the Red Army Faction
* Gilmar Mendes (born 1955), Minister of Brazilian Supreme Federal Court
* Thomas Middelhoff (born 1953), Board of Directors, Bertelsmann
* Georg Milbradt (born 1945), Minister-President of Saxony
* Walter Momper (born 1945), politician
* Ernst Nolte (1923–2016), historian and philosopher
* René Obermann (born 1963), businessman
* Adalbert Parmet (1830–1898), priest
* Ruprecht Polenz (born 1946), politician
* Kurt Schumacher (1895–1952), politician
* Rudolf Seiters (born 1937), politician
* Hans-Werner Sinn (born 1948), student, President of the leading Institution for Economic Research (Instituts für Wirtschaftsforschung, IFO)
* Karl Stein (1913–2000), mathematician
* Barbara Stühlmeyer (born 1964), musicologist, writer and contributing editor
* Ludger Stühlmeyer (born 1961), Director of Music ACV
* Hans Tietmeyer (1931–2016), economist
* Klaus Töpfer (born 1938), UNO-Commissar
* Ernst Tugendhat (born 1930), philosopher
* Karl Weierstrass (1815–1897), mathematician
* Harald Weinrich (born 1927), classical scholar
* Marina Weisband (born 1987), politician
* Oliver Welke (born 1966), author, comedian, voice actor and presenter
* Arthur Wieferich (1884–1954), mathematician
* Heinrich August Winkler (born 1938), historian
* Boris Zernikow (born 1964), chair for child pain therapy and pediatric palliative medicine at the Witten/Herdecke University
* Angela Zigahl (1885–1955), teacher and politician
* Klaus Zumwinkel (born 1943), former member of the Board of Directors, Deutsche Post World Net
* Jan Kohlhaase (born 1976), mathematician

## Scientists and lecturers

* Wilhelm Ackermann (1896–1962), mathematician
* Kurt Aland (1915–1994), theologian
* Karl Barth (1886–1968), theologian
* Ulrich Beck (1944–2015), sociologist
* Pope Benedict XVI: Joseph Kardinal Ratzinger, (born 1927)
* Hans Blumenberg (1920–1996), philosopher and intellectual historian
* Wolfgang Burandt (born 1957), lawyer, legal academic and professor for commercial law
* Richard Courant (1888–1972), German-American mathematician.
* Joachim Cuntz (born 1948), mathematician, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
* Max Dehn (1878–1952), German-born American mathematician
* Christopher Deninger (born 1958), mathematician, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
* Gerhard Domagk (1895–1964), Nobel Prize in Medicine (1939)
* Wilhelm Ehmann (1904–1989), musicologist
* Heinz Gollwitzer (1917–1999), historian
* Jürgen Horst, human geneticist
* Klaus Hildebrand (born 1941), historian
* Joseph Höffner (1906–1987), cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
* Joachim Jose (born 1961), professor of pharmaceutical and medical chemistry
* Paul Kevenhörster (born 1941), Political scientist
* Wilhelm Killing (1847–1923), mathematician
* Paul Kirchhof (born 1943), jurist
* Johann Kremer (1883–1965), professor of anatomy and human genetics, served in the SS in Auschwitz concentration camp, convicted of war crimes
* Leon Lichtenstein (1878–1933), Polish-German mathematician
* Wolfgang Lück (born 1957), mathematician, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
* Friedrich Mauz (1900–1979), psychiatrist involved with the Nazi T-4 Euthanasia Program
* Johann Baptist Metz (1928–2019), theologian
* Wolfgang Metzger (1899–1979), psychologist
* Klaus Mezger (born 1958), geochemistry, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
* Alfred Müller-Armack (1901–1978), economist, inventor of the social market economy and advisor to the Nazi regime
* Friedrich Münzer (1868–1942), classical scholar, died in Theresienstadt concentration camp
* Frank Natterer (born 1941), mathematician
* Josef Pieper (1904–1997), philosopher
* Heinz Pruefer (1896–1934), mathematician
* Karl Rahner (1904–1984), theologian
* Bernhard Rensch (1900–1990), biologist
* Helmut Schelsky (1912–1984), sociologist
* Song Du-yul (born 1944), philosopher, former prisoner under South Korea's National Security Act
* Dieter Stöffler (born 1939), planetology, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
* Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger (born 1955), history of early modern Europe, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
* Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer (1896–1969), human biologist and geneticist
* Dietmar Vestweber (born 1956), cellular biology/biochemistry, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
* Hans Wehr (1909–1981), Islamic scientist; author of the Arabian-English dictionary funded by the Nazi Party
* Hubert Wolf (born 1959), history of Christianity/Catholic theology, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
* Peter Voswinckel (born 1951), German physician, medical historian and author

## Honorary doctors

* Jan Assmann (born 1938), (D. theol. h.c. Faculty of Protestant Theology (1998))
* Klaus von Bismarck (1912–1997), (D. theol. h.c. Faculty of Protestant Theology)
* Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde (1930–2019), Judge, Bundesverfassungsgericht (2001 Faculty of Law)
* Gilberto Freyre (1900–1987), Ph. D.
* Mikhail Gorbachev (born 1931)
* Tenzin Gyatso (born 1935), 14th Dalai Lama (2007 Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy)
* Jean-Claude Juncker (born 1954), Prime Minister (Luxembourg)
* Wim Kok (1938–2018), Prime Minister (Netherlands) (2003 Faculty of Philosophie)
* Hanna-Renate Laurien (1928–2010), theologian (1996 Faculty of Catholic Theology)
* Reinhard Mohn (1921–2009), Director, Bertelsmann (2001 Faculty of Economics (Münster School of Business Administration and Economics))
* Rupert Neudeck (1939–2016)
* Erich Schumann (1898–1985), jurist (2002 Faculty of Law)
* Wolfgang Thierse (born 1943), politician