Michael Schaefer

Dr. Michael Schaefer has been Chairman of the BMW Foundation, Herbert Quandt, since 2013. Previously he served for 35 years in the German Foreign Service. His diplomatic career most recently took him to the People’s Republic of China, where he served as German Ambassador from 2007 until 2013. After a series of postings at the United Nations in New York from 1981 to 1984, he served as Permanent Representative of the German Embassy to Singapore from 1987 to 1991, and as head of the Political Affairs Section at the German Permanent Mission to the Office of the United Nations in Geneva from 1995 to 1999. From 1999 to 2002, Dr. Michael Schaefer was head of the Western Balkans Task Force and subsequently Deputy Political Director and Special Envoy for Southeast Europe at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. From 2002 to 2007, he served as Political Director of the Federal Foreign Office. Dr. Michael Schaefer is the author of numerous articles and monographs on foreign and security policy issues. Among other distinguished positions, he is an honorary professor at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing, a member of the German Group of the Trilateral Commission, a member of the Advisory Board of the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), a board member of the United Nations Association of Germany (DGVN), and a member of the Commission on Global Security, Justice & Governance.