Helmut Gunter Wilhelm Panke (born on 31 August 1946 in Fürstenwalde,

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and physicist who has been holding board membership in several companies -

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

Bayer AG Bayer AG (English: , commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies and biomedical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer's ...

and

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. During the past recent 30 years, Panke's management career spread over several companies, including e.g. serving as the chairman of the board of management at

BMW AG Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. The ...

from May 2002 through August 2006.

Education

In 1972, Panke graduated from the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

(''Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München'') in physics, having started his studies in 1968, and received his Ph.D. in 1976. Prior to his studies, during the period from 1964 to 1965, Panke was an AFS Exchange Student to the

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. After the award of the doctorate degree in nuclear physics, Panke joined the Swiss Institute for Nuclear Research.

Career

From 1976 to 1978, Panke was a researcher at the Swiss Institute for Nuclear Research and a lecturer at the University of Munich. From 1978 to 1982, he was a consultant with

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey or McK) is an American multinational strategy and management consulting firm that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinse ...

. In 1982, he started at

Bayerische Motoren Werke Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. The ...

(BMW) as a head of planning and control of the research and development division, before assuming management functions in 1985. He later said that his attraction to the company was based on the reputation it had for encouraging creativity and independence among its staff. Over the next 20 years, Panke worked his way up through the company, working in nearly every department: he served as the chairman of the management board at BMW (UK) Capital PLC, and as chairman and CEO of BMW (US) Holding Corporation from 1993 to 1996, he managed the US manufacturing facility that was responsible for building, as well as corporate planning, organisation, staff, IT, finance and sales. From 1996 to 1999, his tasks focused on Human Resources and Information Technology. From 1999 to 2002, he served as a member of the board of management responsible for finance. In 2002, Panke succeeded Joachim Milberg to become the chairman of BMW after Milberg's resignation for health reasons. During his tenure from May 16, 2002 until September 1, 2006, he was credited with leading the company’s internationalization and his refusal to move the company into the lower priced mass market.

Other activities

Panke served on the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

for

from 2003 until 2019, as the first board member from outside the United States. In this capacity, he was also the chairman of the Regulatory and Public Policy Committee, a member of the Compensation Committee and of the Audit Committee of Microsoft. In 2004, Panke was elected into the board of directors of

UBS AG UBS Group AG (stylized simply as UBS) is a multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland, with headquarters in both Zurich and Basel. It holds a strong foothold in all major fina ...

, where he served as a member for eleven years. He left the BoD at the Annual General Meeting of 2015, stepping down due to regulatory provisions regarding the term of office. He also worked as a member of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee and of the Risk Committee from 2008. In addition, Panke has held the following mandates: *

, independent non-executive member of the board of directors (2009-2018) *

, member of the supervisory board (2006-2016) * Bertelsmann AG, member of the supervisory board (2005-2017)Hans-Peter Siebenhaar (May 18, 2011)
Bertelsmann: Ex-BMW-Chef Milberg wird Aufsichtsrats-Vize
''

Handelsblatt The ''Handelsblatt'' (literally "commerce paper" in English) is a German-language business newspaper published in Düsseldorf by Handelsblatt Media Group, formerly known as Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt. History and profile ''Handelsblatt'' was es ...

''. * Dubai International Capital, member of the advisory board (since 2007) * Bayer Schering Pharma AG, member of the supervisory board During his time at BMW, Panke served as a member of the board of directors of ACEA, the Association des Constructeurs Européens d’Automobiles, Belgium, a member of the board of directors of VDA, the association of the German automobile industry, and of the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany.

Recognition

* 2006 – Prize for Understanding and Tolerance, awarded by the

Jewish Museum Berlin The Jewish Museum Berlin (''Jüdisches Museum Berlin'') was opened in 2001 and is the largest Jewish museum in Europe. On of floor space, the museum presents the history of the Jews in Germany from the Middle Ages to the present day, with new foc ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panke, Helmut Living people Businesspeople from Brandenburg Chief executives in the automobile industry BMW people Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Directors of Microsoft 1946 births German corporate directors Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni UBS people Singapore Airlines McKinsey & Company people People from Oder-Spree 20th-century German physicists