Studied political science, history, sociology and economics at Juniata College, PA (USA), at WWU Münster, at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (I.E.P.) and the Institut des Hautes Etudes de L'Amérique Latine of the Sorbonne Nouvelle;

Postgraduate studies at the DIE, Berlin;

1984 joined the German diplomatic service: worked, among others, at the embassies in La Paz and Tokyo and as head of economic service at the German embassy in Washington;

2001-2002 "visiting fellow" at various American think tanks in Washington D.C. (including the Henry L. Stimson Center, Heritage Foundation, Woodrow Wilson Center);

from 2004-2006 deputy head of the planning staff of the German Foreign Office, then advisor for foreign and security policy in the German Bundestag;

from 2010-2014 Ambassador for Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue and International Academic Relations at the German Foreign Office, then Envoy at the German Embassy in Madrid;

From 2016-2020, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

In August 2020, assumption of the leadership of the Center for Diplomacy and the Chair of Diplomacy II at Andrássy University in Budapest.

Field of work and research: Asia/USA/Latin America/Middle East/security policy as well as issues of resource security and religions with numerous publications especially on Asia/USA, foreign policy and Islam.