Thomas Oppermann(1954-2020)
Elementary school in Edemissen (Northeim district) and Goethe School in Einbeck, Abitur. Studied German and English in Tübingen. 1976 to 1978 stay in the USA with Aktion Sühnezeichen/Friedensdienste in Washington D. C. and New York; employee in the boycott office of the field and migrant workers' union UFW/AFL-CIO. Studied law in Göttingen, 1983 Referendarexamen, then research assistant and work in tenant counseling, 1986 Assessorexamen.
1986 to 1990 judge at the administrative courts of Hanover and Braunschweig; in the meantime seconded to local government, 1988 to 1989 head of the legal department of the city of Münden.
Member of the Board of Trustees of the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, the Fagus Plant in Alfeld, the Max Planck Institute for Solar Physics in Lindau, the Göttingen Palliative Foundation, the Sir Hugh Carlton Greene Foundation and the Boards of Trustees of the Max Planck Institutes for Biophysical Chemistry and Experimental Medicine in Göttingen, member of the Board of Trustees of the Göttingen Civic Foundation, member of the Advisory Board of the Goethe Institutes in Germany, the Friends of the German Theater in Göttingen and the Board of the Göttingen Handel Society.
Since 1980 member of the SPD, functions in the Young Socialists as well as activity in the committees of the academic and student self-administration, since 1989 chairman of the SPD sub-district Göttingen. 1990 to 2005 Member of the State Parliament of Lower Saxony, where he was Legal Policy Spokesman from 1990 to 1998, Minister for Science and Culture from 1998 to 2003 and Economic Policy Spokesman from 2003 to 2005.
Member of the Bundestag since 2005.
1986 to 1990 judge at the administrative courts of Hanover and Braunschweig; in the meantime seconded to local government, 1988 to 1989 head of the legal department of the city of Münden.
Member of the Board of Trustees of the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, the Fagus Plant in Alfeld, the Max Planck Institute for Solar Physics in Lindau, the Göttingen Palliative Foundation, the Sir Hugh Carlton Greene Foundation and the Boards of Trustees of the Max Planck Institutes for Biophysical Chemistry and Experimental Medicine in Göttingen, member of the Board of Trustees of the Göttingen Civic Foundation, member of the Advisory Board of the Goethe Institutes in Germany, the Friends of the German Theater in Göttingen and the Board of the Göttingen Handel Society.
Since 1980 member of the SPD, functions in the Young Socialists as well as activity in the committees of the academic and student self-administration, since 1989 chairman of the SPD sub-district Göttingen. 1990 to 2005 Member of the State Parliament of Lower Saxony, where he was Legal Policy Spokesman from 1990 to 1998, Minister for Science and Culture from 1998 to 2003 and Economic Policy Spokesman from 2003 to 2005.
Member of the Bundestag since 2005.