List of University of Münster people

This list contains some of the most notable alumni, scientists, lecturer and honorary doctors of the University of Münster (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster).

Alumni

 * Johannes Georg Bednorz (born 1950), Nobel Prize winner (1987)
 * Kamla Bhasin (1946–2021), Indian developmental feminist activist
 * Walter Blume (SS officer) (1906–1974), SS commander and leader of Sonderkommando 7a, part of the extermination commando group Einsatzgruppe B.
 * Tobias Böckers (born 1964), medical academic
 * Lars Clausen (1935-2010), sociologist
 * Wolfgang Clement (1940–2020), politician
 * Kai Diekmann (born 1964), Chief Editor of Bild, Europe's largest newspaper (3.5 million copies)
 * Andreas Raymond Dombret (born 1960), Münster School of Business Administration and Economics; member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank; former Vice-Chairman Europe Bank of America, Director Germany, Austria, Swiss
 * Gerd Faltings (born 1954), mathematician, Fields Medal
 * Dieter Fenske (born 1942), chemist
 * Birgit Fischer (born 1962), athlete
 * Monika Grütters (born 1962), politician
 * August Hanning (born 1946), President of the Bundesnachrichtendienst
 * Gustav Heinemann (1899–1976), politician, former President of Germany
 * Matthias Hentze (born 1960), Associate Director, European Molecular Biology Laboratory
 * Friedrich Hirzebruch (1927–2012), mathematician
 * Thomas Hoeren (born 1961), intellectual property judge and lawyer
 * Erich Kamke (1890–1961), mathematician
 * Pia Lamberty (born 1984), social psychologist and co-founder of the Center for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy
 * Jens Lehmann (born 1969), footballer (goalkeeper) of the German football team
 * Ursula von der Leyen (born 1958), doctor; President of the European Commission
 * Wilhelmine Lübke (1885–1981), First Lady
 * Niklas Luhmann (1927–1998), sociologist
 * Ulrike Marie Meinhof (1934–1976), member of the Red Army Faction
 * Gilmar Mendes (born 1955), Minister of Brazilian Supreme Federal Court
 * Thomas Middelhoff (born 1953), Board of Directors, Bertelsmann
 * Georg Milbradt (born 1945), Minister-President of Saxony
 * Walter Momper (born 1945), politician
 * Ernst Nolte (1923–2016), historian and philosopher
 * René Obermann (born 1963), businessman
 * Adalbert Parmet (1830–1898), priest
 * Ruprecht Polenz (born 1946), politician
 * Kurt Schumacher (1895–1952), politician
 * Rudolf Seiters (born 1937), politician
 * Hans-Werner Sinn (born 1948), student, President of the leading Institution for Economic Research (Instituts für Wirtschaftsforschung, IFO)
 * Karl Stein (1913–2000), mathematician
 * Barbara Stühlmeyer (born 1964), musicologist, writer and contributing editor
 * Ludger Stühlmeyer (born 1961), Director of Music ACV
 * Hans Tietmeyer (1931–2016), economist
 * Klaus Töpfer (born 1938), UNO-Commissar
 * Ernst Tugendhat (born 1930), philosopher
 * Karl Weierstrass (1815–1897), mathematician
 * Harald Weinrich (born 1927), classical scholar
 * Marina Weisband (born 1987), politician
 * Oliver Welke (born 1966), author, comedian, voice actor and presenter
 * Arthur Wieferich (1884–1954), mathematician
 * Heinrich August Winkler (born 1938), historian
 * Boris Zernikow (born 1964), chair for child pain therapy and pediatric palliative medicine at the Witten/Herdecke University
 * Angela Zigahl (1885–1955), teacher and politician
 * Klaus Zumwinkel (born 1943), former member of the Board of Directors, Deutsche Post World Net
 * Jan Kohlhaase (born 1976), mathematician

Scientists and lecturers

 * Wilhelm Ackermann (1896–1962), mathematician
 * Kurt Aland (1915–1994), theologian
 * Karl Barth (1886–1968), theologian
 * Ulrich Beck (1944–2015), sociologist
 * Pope Benedict XVI: Joseph Kardinal Ratzinger, (born 1927)
 * Hans Blumenberg (1920–1996), philosopher and intellectual historian
 * Wolfgang Burandt (born 1957), lawyer, legal academic and professor for commercial law
 * Richard Courant (1888–1972), German-American mathematician.
 * Joachim Cuntz (born 1948), mathematician, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
 * Max Dehn (1878–1952), German-born American mathematician
 * Christopher Deninger (born 1958), mathematician, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
 * Gerhard Domagk (1895–1964), Nobel Prize in Medicine (1939)
 * Wilhelm Ehmann (1904–1989), musicologist
 * Heinz Gollwitzer (1917–1999), historian
 * Jürgen Horst, human geneticist
 * Klaus Hildebrand (born 1941), historian
 * Joseph Höffner (1906–1987), cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
 * Joachim Jose (born 1961), professor of pharmaceutical and medical chemistry
 * Paul Kevenhörster (born 1941), Political scientist
 * Wilhelm Killing (1847–1923), mathematician
 * Paul Kirchhof (born 1943), jurist
 * Johann Kremer (1883–1965), professor of anatomy and human genetics, served in the SS in Auschwitz concentration camp, convicted of war crimes
 * Leon Lichtenstein (1878–1933), Polish-German mathematician
 * Wolfgang Lück (born 1957), mathematician, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
 * Friedrich Mauz (1900–1979), psychiatrist involved with the Nazi T-4 Euthanasia Program
 * Johann Baptist Metz (1928–2019), theologian
 * Wolfgang Metzger (1899–1979), psychologist
 * Klaus Mezger (born 1958), geochemistry, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
 * Alfred Müller-Armack (1901–1978), economist, inventor of the social market economy and advisor to the Nazi regime
 * Friedrich Münzer (1868–1942), classical scholar, died in Theresienstadt concentration camp
 * Frank Natterer (born 1941), mathematician
 * Josef Pieper (1904–1997), philosopher
 * Heinz Pruefer (1896–1934), mathematician
 * Karl Rahner (1904–1984), theologian
 * Bernhard Rensch (1900–1990), biologist
 * Helmut Schelsky (1912–1984), sociologist
 * Song Du-yul (born 1944), philosopher, former prisoner under South Korea's National Security Act
 * Dieter Stöffler (born 1939), planetology, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
 * Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger (born 1955), history of early modern Europe, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
 * Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer (1896–1969), human biologist and geneticist
 * Dietmar Vestweber (born 1956), cellular biology/biochemistry, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
 * Hans Wehr (1909–1981), Islamic scientist; author of the Arabian-English dictionary funded by the Nazi Party
 * Hubert Wolf (born 1959), history of Christianity/Catholic theology, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
 * Peter Voswinckel (born 1951), German physician, medical historian and author

Honorary doctors

 * Jan Assmann (born 1938), (D. theol. h.c. Faculty of Protestant Theology (1998))
 * Klaus von Bismarck (1912–1997), (D. theol. h.c. Faculty of Protestant Theology)
 * Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde (1930–2019), Judge, Bundesverfassungsgericht (2001 Faculty of Law)
 * Gilberto Freyre (1900–1987), Ph. D.
 * Mikhail Gorbachev (born 1931)
 * Tenzin Gyatso (born 1935), 14th Dalai Lama (2007 Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy)
 * Jean-Claude Juncker (born 1954), Prime Minister (Luxembourg)
 * Wim Kok (1938–2018), Prime Minister (Netherlands) (2003 Faculty of Philosophie)
 * Hanna-Renate Laurien (1928–2010), theologian (1996 Faculty of Catholic Theology)
 * Reinhard Mohn (1921–2009), Director, Bertelsmann (2001 Faculty of Economics (Münster School of Business Administration and Economics))
 * Rupert Neudeck (1939–2016)
 * Erich Schumann (1898–1985), jurist (2002 Faculty of Law)
 * Wolfgang Thierse (born 1943), politician