Born at 30.09.1960 in Hildesheim; married; 3 children

Extended secondary education I. 1978 Training as a chemical laboratory assistant.

1982/83 Military service with the 1st Medical Battalion.

After training, employee at the Kalibergwerk Siegfried-Giesen. Further training as a company statistician, 1992/93 studied at the Social Academy in Dortmund. From 1993 full-time trade union secretary at the IG Bergbau und Energie (IG BE) in Recklinghausen and Bochum. 1997 to 2005 industry group secretary for mining and energy policy at the IG Bergbau, Chemie, Energie (IG BCE). 2005 to 2013 Secretary to the Executive Board at the IG BCE head office in Hanover, responsible for social policy, co-determination, works constitution, migration/integration.

Since 1984 member of the SPD, member of the council of the municipality of Giesen, deputy chairman of the SPD sub-district of Hildesheim. Member of IG BCE, AWO, association „Mach meinen Kumpel nicht an“, president of the German-French partnership Chabanais-Giesen e.V.

Since 2013 Member of the German Bundestag.

Memberships of the German Bundestag:

• Committee for Economics and Energy, full member
• Speaker of the SPD parliamentary group’s working group on economy and energy
• Parliamentary Advisory Council for Sustainable Development, full member
• Committee on Health, substitute Member

Board of Trustees Fund for the Financing of Nuclear Waste Management, full member