Alfred Gossner

Biography

I studied economics and philosophy in Munich and Oxford. After academic work as a lecturer at Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich I worked as a consultant at McKinsey. In 1985 I joined Allianz, the leading insurance group in Europe. After some years as a department head of the Group holding company, I took over as Managing Director of Allianz South Africa and Namibia, witnessing the transformation of South Africa from short distance. After returning from Africa, I was first appointed as head of Allianz North Germany and then as Board Member of Allianz Insurance AG for Industrial Business. From 2002 to 2017, I was a member of the Executive Board of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, Europe's leading organization for contract research in the natural sciences and engineering. In addition to my responsibilities as CFO and CIO, I took care of the business issues of Fraunhofer start-ups as well as research partnerships in the southern hemisphere. The University of Stellenbosch appointed me as an extraordinary professor. Since 2018 I have been president of Munich Business School. I have intensive experience as member and chairman of supervisory boards in diverse industries and in private equity. Since 1980 I am married to Michaela. We have two adult sons and two grandchildren.