Life

I was born in Stuttgart in 1979, where I grew up and went to school. My parents had immigrated from South Africa a few years earlier and found a home in the local Protestant church community. This is also how I became involved in youth work.

I started University 1999. This brought me to Munich. Here I completed an interdisciplinary degree at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität: In addition to my major in communication, I completed minors in computer science and law. My stay abroad at the University of Cape Town was particularly influential. After graduated I completed a PhD at the Technical University of Munich with a thesis on science communication – at the Chair of Forest and Environmental Policy.

I have been back at the Department of Media and Communication at LMU since 2009. My work shifted from a focus on academic research to student advising and, with my appointment as Managing Director of the Institute, to academic administration. I am the first point of contact for colleagues and students in matters large and small, as well as a representative of their interests as a member of the University Governing Board and trusted stipend advisor. Since 2021, I have been managing the Munich Science Communication Lab in a dual leadership role.

Biographical data about Bernhard Goodwin (German language).

Important Dates

born 1979 in Stuttgart
1995-1997 member of local youth council (Jugendrat) in Stuttgart-Sillenbuch
since 1996 member of the Socialdemocratic party in Germany (SPD)
1998-1999 Civilian service in the field of refugee aid
1999-2005 Studied communication in Munich
Member of the public servants union „ver.di“ since 2001
2005-2009 Research assistant at the TUM
2011 Doctorate (Dr. phil.)
since 2009 Research assistant at the Department of Media and Communication at LMU Munich, course coordinator for the Master’s in Journalism (until 2019) and international officer
Since 2010 Managing Director of the Department
2014-2017 Spokesperson for the Munich SPD
2017 Candidate for the 19th German Bundestag
2020 Candidate for mayor in Karlsfeld
2021 Executive Director Munich Science Communication Lab

Voluntary Work (Selection)

Convention of Academic Staff at LMU (since 2013) and member of the University Governing Board (since 2015)
Chairperson of the association „Ich wähle mit“ (promoting voter turnout)
Board „Mediaschool Bayern Anbieterverein München“ (media education in Munich) – 2014-2024 as chairman, now deputy chairman
Chair of the „Alfred and Karl Marchionini“ Foundation (student housing in Munich)
Trusted stipend advisor for the trade union-affiliated Hans Böckler Foundation (since 2018: member of the spokesperson committee and since 2020 in the council for student support)
Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Ledigenheim München e.V.

You can find out more about my perspective on volunteering at the German language site BeGood.de.

Media

Photos

Bernhard Goodwin as a small kid at the beach with Katharina Goodwin. — 1980

Bernhard Goodwin as a child at a window. — 1980

Photos licenced as Creative Commons

You can use the images below in the current reporting. A version in the highest resolution is linked. I am also releasing them under a CC-BY-4.0-Lizenz, which allows you to use them for other purposes such as Wikipedia.