from July 1, 2025 Scientific Director of FIAS 

2021-2025 President of acatech - German Academy of Science and Engineering

2015 - 2021 Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA)

2007 - 2014 Chairman of the Executive Board of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) 

2005 Founding partner of the European Center for Aviation Development (ECAD)2003 Representative of the Chair of Structural Design at the Technical University of Darmstadt

1995 - 2007 President of the TU Darmstadt 

1994 Appointment as test engineer for structural analysis at the TU Darmstadt

1994 Foundation of the engineering office Wörner und Partner, Darmstadt

1993 Technical Director of the Institute for Structural Glass Engineering, Gelsenkirchen

1992 - 1994 Dean of the Department of Civil Engineering at the TU Darmstadt 

1990 - 1995 Professor of solid construction at the Technical University of Darmstadt and Head of the Testing and Research Institute  

1985 Doctorate at the Technical University of Darmstadt 

1982 - 1983 Research stay in Japan on the subject of “earthquake safety”

1979 - 1990 Employment at the engineering office König und Heunisch, Frankfurt 

1975 - 1979 Diploma in civil engineering at the Technical University of Darmstadt 

1973 - 1975 Studied civil engineering at the Technical University of Berlin