Dr. Hans-Georg Knopp (*1945, Germany) has been secretary general of the Goethe Institute since 2005. After studying theology, religious studies, indology, Arabic studies, sociology and political sciences in Tübingen, Vienna, Marburg and Giessen he gained his doctorate in 1974 in indology at the University of Marburg. Until 1996 he then worked for the Goethe Institute, including as director of the Goethe Institute in Chicago. From 1996 to 2005 he directed the House of World Cultures in Berlin. He works on the board of the Asien-Pazifik-Forum Berlin e.V. (APFB) and on supervisory council of the MachMit Museum for Children, Munich, and is a member of the board of trustees of the Stiftung Deutsches Hygiene-Museum and is a practice partner of the cultural work course at the Potsdam vocational college. His key areas of work are the fields of international cultural exchange and international politics.