Ruth Bieringer Elected New GDCh President

Dr. Ruth Bieringer, Vice President Technology & Innovation – Material Technology, Freudenberg Sealing Technologies, Weinheim, Germany, has been elected President of the German Chemical Society (GDCh) for the years 2026 and 2027, effective January 1, 2026.

She succeeds Professor Stefanie Dehnen, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany, who will assume the role of Immediate Past President for one year. In addition, Dr. Carla Seidel, BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, und Dr. Susanne Rehn-Taube, Deutsches Museum München, have been elected as Vice Presidents for 2026 and 2027.

As chemists, we have a responsibility to help tackle global challenges—through scientific excellence, open dialogue, and cross-sector collaboration.

During her presidency, Ruth Bieringer intends to intensify dialogue with politics and other stakeholders. “Humanity faces profound societal and scientific challenges, and we as scientists must play a central role in solving them,” says Ruth Bieringer. It is particularly important to her that political decisions are made based on robust scientific evidence and that the GDCh serves as a reliable and competent partner.

Career

Ruth Bieringer, born 1971, studied chemistry at Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany, and received her Ph.D. from the University of Bayreuth, Germany, for research in polymer chemistry in 1999. She began her career at Freudenberg, where she held various positions in central research. Since 2020, she has been Vice President Technology & Innovation – Material Technology at Freudenberg Sealing Technologies.

Additionally, Ruth Bieringer serves as a lecturer at Hochschule RheinMain in the field of Materials Science (Polymers). Beyond her involvement with the GDCh, Ruth Bieringer contributes to the German Rubber Society (DKG), the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), and the German Institute for Rubber Technology (DIK).

Since 2024, she has been a member of the GDCh board and also leads the PFAS Think Tank. She is furthermore chair of the advisory board of the Dr. Hermann Schnell Foundation, which aims to support young scientists in the field of macromolecular chemistry.

In 2024, Ruth Bieringer was awarded the Meyer-Galow Prize for Industrial Chemistry. Together with her team, she has developed high-temperature-resistant plastics as well as novel flame-retardant barriers, which are of great importance for the operational safety of modern lithium-ion batteries.