Board of Directors

Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Christoph M. Schmidt, President
Christoph M. Schmidt has been President of RWI and Professor of Economic Policy and Applied Econometrics at Ruhr University Bochum since 2002. He studied economics at the University of Mannheim, received his his Ph.D. from Princeton University and the degree of Dr. rer. pol. habil. at the University of Munich. Christoph Schmidt has been a member of the Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation (EFI) since 2024. In addition, he was and is member in various boards and councils: from 2009 to 2020 of the German Council of Economic Experts (chairman from 2013 to 2020); from 2019 to 2022 of the Franco-German Council of Economic Experts (co-chairman from 2020 to 2022); from 2011 to 2013 of the Enquete Commission "Growth, Prosperity, Quality of Life" of the German Bundestag; from 2020 to 2021 of the "Corona-Expertenrat" (Corona Council of Experts) of the Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia; since 2011 of acatech – Deutsche Akademie der Technikwissenschaften (since 2014 of the Executive Board and vice president since 2020); since 2020 of the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina; since 2015 of the Mainz Academy of Sciences and Literature and since 2018 of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy for Sciences and Arts. Other memberships include: Since 2011, member of the Board of Trustees of the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance in Munich, from 2011 to 2013 and since 2023 as Deputy Chairman, from 2013 to 2023 as Chairman; Since 2014, member of the Board of Trustees of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation, since 2020 as Deputy Chairman; from 2016 to 2024, member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Fritz Thyssen Foundation; From 2020 to 2023, he served as Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Institute of Energy Economics at the University of Cologne (EWI); since 2020, he has been a member of the expert committee of the program for the promotion of cutting-edge research at universities (“Excellence Strategy”) of the Joint Science Conference (GWK) and, since 2021, a member of the Supervisory Board of BMW AG. In 2025, he was a fellow of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. His research focuses on applied econometrics, including energy, health, and labor market economics, as well as the interface between research and science-based policy advice. He was editor of the Journal of Population Economics (1996 to 2002), the German Economic Review (2009 to 2013), and Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik (2023 to 2024). In 2016, he was awarded the Gustav Stolper Prize by the Verein für Socialpolitik (German Economic Association), and in 2019 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Faculty of Economics at Leibniz University Hannover. In 2019, the Verein pro Ruhrgebiet (Pro Ruhr Area Association) also honored him as a “Citizen of the Ruhr Area.” In 2022, he received the Innovation Award of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in the “Honorary Award” category and in 2024 the “Social Market Economy Award” of the WPCD (Wirtschaftspolitischer Club Deutschland e.V.). In 2025, Christoph Schmidt received the Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Prof. Dr. Thomas K. Bauer, Vice-President

Thomas Bauer is currently professor of economics at the University of Bochum (Ruhr-Universität Bochum). Since February 2004 he is Member of the Executive Board of RWI, since 2009 he is Vice-President. He studied economics at the University of Munich. In July 1997 he obtained his doctoral degree from the University of Munich. From 1997-1998 Thomas Bauer visited the Rutgers University, USA. In September 1998 he joined IZA as Senior Research Associate and became IZA Program Director in July 1999. From 2011 until 2019 he was member of the Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration, from September 2016 until July 2019 he was chairman of the Council. Since May 2017 he is chairman of the Statistical Advisory Committee, which is acting as advisory board of the Federal Statistical Office (destatis).

Dr. Stefan Rumpf, Administrative Board Member

Stefan Rumpf studied Business Administration at the University of Trier. From 1998 to 2002 he was doctoral student and Managing Director of the DFG Collaborative Research Centre 522 "Umwelt und Region“ (environment and region) at the University of Trier, where he also completed his dissertation on the topic of “Sustainability in skilled crafts and trades” in 2003. Subsequently he headed an ESF project on company succession in skilled crafts at the Trier Chamber of Crafts. Since January 2005 Stefan Rumpf has been an employee at RWI. Initially he was Managing Director of the Ruhr Graduate School in Economics (RGS Econ). Since December 2010 he is head of the department „Finance and Controlling" at RWI. From 2013 until September 2017 he was RWI’s Managing Director. In October 2017 Stefan Rumpf has become the Chief Administrative Director of RWI.

Prof. Dr. Kerstin Schneider, Member of the extended Executive Board

Kerstin Schneider, Chair of Finance and Taxation at the University of Wuppertal, has been a member of RWI's extended Executive Board since February 2024. She completed her Master's degree in Economics at the University of Georgia in the USA in 1990 and received her Ph.D. in Economics there in 1993. From 1994 to 2000, Kerstin Schneider worked as a research assistant at the Chair of Public Finance of Prof Dr Wolfram F. Richter at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Dortmund. In 2001, she completed her habilitation at the University of Dortmund. From 2001 to 2004 she worked as an academic counsellor at the Chair of Public Finance at the University of Dortmund and from 2003 to 2004 as a substitute for the Chair of Finance and Taxation at the Department of Economics at the University of Wuppertal. Kerstin Schneider's research focusses in particular on the economics of education. At RWI, she drives the strategic development of the institute and contributes primarily to improving the institute's profile in the fields of economics of education and economic education.