Education expert Klaus Hurrelmann turns 70

Berlin, 8 January 2014 – The education and youth researcher, Prof. Dr. Klaus Hurrelmann, Professor of Public Health and Education at the Hertie School, is turning 70 on 10 January 2014. His contribution to socialisation and education research, with a focus on family, childhood, adolescence and school, makes Hurrelmann one of the leading German experts in these areas. With the establishment of the first German School of Public Health in 1994 at Bielefeld University, where he served as Dean for over ten years, he further helped enforce and overhaul health and prevention research which had been previously exploited during the Third Reich. He is also well known for his involvement in school reforms, help with health disorders among school children, and lowering the legal voting age. His “Theorie der produktiven Realitätsverarbeitung” has not only been discussed in university seminars for the last 20 years, but is now also used as teaching material in upper secondary schools. In some German states, it is even a feature of the final Abitur examinations.

Hurrelmann is the author of several foundational works, was part of the leadership team of the last three “Shell Youth Studies”, was the spokesman for the special research project “Prevention and Intervention in Childhood and Adolescence” at the German Research Foundation (DFG) for twelve years, and lead the German division of the international comparative study “Health Behavior in School Children” on behalf of the World Health Organisation.

“Klaus Hurrelmann is not only an example for many young scientists in that he combines scientific excellence with social involvement, but he also embodies our self-conception as a School of Governance which probes the debate between science and practice”, said Prof. Helmut K. Anheier, Hertie School Dean.

Klaus Hurrelmann studied sociology, psychology and education at the University of Freiburg, Berkeley University of California (USA), and the University of Münster, and focussed his doctorate on socialisation research. In 1975, he qualified to teach with his paper “Erziehungssystem und Gesellschaft” and obtained a professorship at the University of Essen. From 1980 to 2009, he taught and researched at Bielefeld University. Since then, he has been a Senior Professor at the Hertie School in Berlin.

A detailed CV and list of publications can be found at www.hertie-school.org/hurrelmann. We’ll be happy to provide you with a high resolution portrait of Prof. Dr. Klaus Hurrelmann.