Ms. Jutta Behnen

Ms. Behnen received her graduate degree in modern German literature and theater from Berlin's historic Humboldt University. In her professional career, however, she has chosen to focus not only on the composition and performance of German prose, but also on the teaching of German's linguistic fundaments to non-native speakers. Ms. Behnen has worked with a number of U.S. universities (Portland State, Stanford, Duke) to prepare students both for their linguistic immersion and standardized proficiency tests that certify students' oral and written competencies. In 2007, her first year with the program, Ms. Behnen was delighted with her students' success on the DAF-test: All students not only passed, but scored very highly.

Dr. Ulrich Brueckner
Jean Monet Professor for European Studies,
Stanford University/Berlin

Dr. Brueckner first became interested in European integration in 1987 while receiving his bachelor's degree from the University of Würzburg. His subsequent academic career–punctuated by his from the Ph.D. Freie Universität Berlin in 1997–has spanned three decades of European expansion and consolidation. Dr. Brueckner, a veteran of exchange programs in Germany, China, Slovenia, Poland, and Turkey, supplements his theoretical lectures with a program of political immersion, securing group invitations to Berlin's many embassies, ministries, and think tanks.

R. Andreas Kraemer
Founder and Director,
Ecologic – Institute for International and European Environmental Policy

In addition to his assistant professorship with Duke University in Berlin, Mr. Kraemer is the founding director of Ecologic , one of Europe's most innovative and highly reputed environmental policy think tanks. Mr. Kraemer specializes in environmental and economic integration on a German, European, and global level. His ability to translate his theoretical, technical and practical knowledge into policy solutions and engaging course work (not to mention three languages) set him apart in his field.

Dr. Matthias Pabsch
Art and Architectural Historian

Since joining the program in 2003, Dr. Pabsch has fascinated students with his extensive (nearly encyclopedic) knowledge of Europe's artists and architects. Dr. Pabsch first received his Ph.D. in art history from the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin in 2001, but has already become an authority on many contemporary artistic and architectural compositions. The same thick historical analysis of Berlin's artistic evolution featured in Dr. Pabsch's most recent publication, Berlin und seine Künstler (Berlin and its Artists), also forms the backbone of his comprehensive and captivating course, which includes several excursions to Berlin's many exhibits.

Judith Theuerkauf
Language Instructor,
Technische Universität Berlin

Although her current work concentrates on communication and language instruction at the Technische Universität's Center for Modern Languages, Ms. Theuerkauf studied a diversity of subjects while pursuing her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Berlin, including German, theater, psychology, and environmental protection. Ms. Theuerkauf draws upon her combined experience as both a professional engineer and a language specialist when introducing students to specific engineering jargon and general German constructions.

Prof. Dr. Michael Tolksdorf
Vice President,
Berlin School of Economics

Professor Tolksdorf has extensive personal experience with academic exchange: He studied economics at the London School of Economics, Princeton University, and Berlin's Freie Universität, where he received his Ph.D. in 1970. Although his research focuses primarily on anti-trust theory and monetary policy, he is a highly regarded expert on a range of global economic issues including competition policy, European integration, and economic structural flux. He is now in his fourteenth year with the program.

Jochen Wohlfeil
Resident Director,
Duke University in Berlin

In addition to his full-time job as Resident Director, Mr. Wohlfeil instructs courses in both the fall and the spring designed to both improve language proficiency while introducing students to Germany's diverse cultural and literary history. Mr. Wohlfeil has master's degrees in German and American studies from the University of Indiana and the Freie Universität Berlin. He (along with any student who has ever had the pleasure of his intellectual company) will celebrate his twentieth year with the Duke University in Berlin program in 2008.