Gerhard Berz

Gerhard Berz grew up in Oberammergau and attended the Humanistic Secondary School at Ettal, where he passed his Abitur examinations in 1960.

He graduated at the University of Munich with a diploma in meteorology and then began work as a research fellow at the Institute of Geophysics and Meteorology at the University of Cologne.

After obtaining his doctorate in 1969 and completing his practical training at the German Weather Service, where he passed his second state examination in 1971, he returned to the University of Munich as a research fellow in 1972 and was awarded a lectureship there, which he still holds today.

In 1974, he was appointed head of Munich Re's natural hazards section (now Geo Risks Research), which he developed into one of the leading institutions in this field within the insurance industry and beyond. This earned him the title "Master of Disaster" (Focus 2001).

Besides working for Munich Re, Mr. Berz is an active member of numerous national and international associations, e.g. the German Committee for Disaster Reduction, the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and the World Weather Research Programme.