Deputy Secretary General

Katrin Amian was born in Aachen in 1977. She studied North American Regional Science at the University of Bonn, completing a doctorate in American Studies there in 2007. Scholarships from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) took her to the University of Notre Dame and the University of California, Berkeley, in the United States.

After finishing her doctorate, she initially worked for the Chair of North American Studies at the University of Bonn, transferring to the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 2007 as programme director for strategic planning in the Department for Strategic Planning and External Relations. In 2008, she became head of the Foundation’s North America, Australia, New Zealand, Oceania Division and from 2021, also deputy head of the Sponsorship and Network Department. As of October 2025, she has been appointed as the Deputy Secretary General of the Foundation.