In his research and teaching at ESMT, Lars-Hendrik Röller will focus on the interlinkages of economics, business, and society, with a special focus on geopolitical risks. In the more than 10 years Röller spent in the chancellor’s office, he gained a wealth of knowledge that he now wants to bring into the classroom. “The time spent in politics, in particular the G7 and G20 summits, have enormously enriched my previous experience. I am looking forward to sharing these insights with students and bridging the gap between academia and practice,” says Lars-Hendrik Röller. From September 2006 until he took on the position in the chancellery in July 2011, Lars-Hendrik Röller was president of ESMT. 

“As the second president of ESMT, Lars-Hendrik Röller put ESMT on a successful path for growth and laid the foundation for our strong research faculty,” says Jörg Rocholl, president of ESMT. “I am personally delighted about this reunion because Lars-Hendrik Röller recruited me to ESMT during his tenure. We will benefit greatly from his newfound policy expertise, both in the classroom and in research.” 

Lars-Hendrik Röller’s academic career began in 1983 as a research assistant at the department of economics at the University of Pennsylvania. He then taught as a professor at INSEAD in France and also became director of the research unit for competitiveness and industrial change at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. In 1995, he was appointed professor of industrial economics at Humboldt University in Berlin. In September 2003, Röller took up the position of chief economist for competition policy at the European Commission. He was president of ESMT Berlin 2006-2011. 

Lars-Hendrik Röller holds a PhD in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. He holds a master of arts in economics and a master of science in artificial intelligence, both from the University of Pennsylvania, and a bachelor of science in computer science from Texas A&M University. 

Lars-Hendrik Röller has served as chairman of the German Economic Association and president of the European Association for Research in Industrial Economics (EARIE). He is a fellow of the European Economic Association and a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences.