Fraunhofer Future Foundation
Fraunhofer Future Foundation

Deputy chair

Prof. Dr. Dieter Prätzel-Wolters, Stellvertretender Vorstandsvorsitzender der Fraunhofer Zukunftsstiftung
Prof. Dr. Dieter Prätzel-Wolters, stellvertretender Vorstandsvorsitzender der Fraunhofer-Zukunftsstiftung. © Fraunhofer

Dieter Prätzel-Wolters

As head of the Institute for Industrial Mathematics (ITWM), the first Fraunhofer Institute with a mathematical focus in Germany, Prof. Dr. Dieter Prätzel-Wolters played a key role in shaping this field of research. He began his scientific career in Bremen. In 1987, he took up a professorship specializing in techno-mathematics at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern. This branch of mathematics was a very young discipline at the time.

Under the leadership of Dieter Prätzel-Wolters, the Fraunhofer ITWM became one of the most successful of the 72 Fraunhofer Institutes. Mathematics increasingly became a key technology that is needed in almost all industries today. It has become a driver of innovation in medical technology, the automotive industry, mechanical engineering, finance and chemistry.

In addition to setting up the Fraunhofer ITWM in Kaiserslautern, Dieter Prätzel-Wolters also headed the Scientific and Technical Council of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, a kind of representative body for all Fraunhofer Institutes. He was Chairman of the Council for over a decade. After leaving the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Dieter Prätzel-Wolters was elected to the Executive Board of the Fraunhofer Future Foundation in 2019.

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© KIT, Amadeus Bramsiepe

Prof. Dr. Thomas Hirth

Chair of the executive board

Prof. Dr. Thomas Hirth took over as Chairman of the Executive Board of the Fraunhofer Future Foundation in July 2025. He succeeds Hans-Jörg Bullinger. Hirth is Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Chairman of the Board at the KIT Foundation. The degreed chemist is well acquainted with Fraunhofer: He held various positions in the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft between 1992 and 2015. Among other things, he headed the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart and was a member of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft’s presidium.

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Dr. Sandra Krey

Member of the executive board

Dr. Sandra Krey has been a member of the Fraunhofer Future Foundation's Executive Board for Finance since November 2022. She studied business administration at the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and conducted research there as part of her doctorate in risk management and internal auditing.

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© Michael Fousert / Unsplash

Other committees

Board of trustees

The board of trustees makes decisions on all matters of fundamental or particular importance and advises, supports, and supervises the executive board in carrying out its duties.

Members