Born 1957 in Briedel. Study of physics and astronomy, doctorate Bonn Univ. (1987), radio astronomer at Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (1992), Lecturer in Astronomy Harvard Univ. (1995), Senior Radio Astronomer at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (1996), Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (since 1996), Honorary Professor at the University of Bonn (since 2001).