Bert Rürup is one of the most frequently quoted economists in Germany where his name has long since become a brand. Pension products and a pension factor bear his name. No other scientist has so successfully shaped policy in recent years. Professor Rürup (*1943) studied economics at the universities of Hanover and Cologne where he received his doctorate in 1971. In 1974 he joined the planning department of the Federal Chancellery as a research assistant and returned to academia one year later. He took over the Chair of Finance at the University of Essen. In 1976 he was appointed to the University of Darmstadt, where he taught for 33 years. Due to his international experience in the field of pension concepts, Bert Rürup is a sought-after expert in this field. Rürup, a member of the SPD, already advised the Kohl government on pension reform, he showed SPD and Die Grünen ways out of the demographic trap with the Rürup commission, and developed the model of the Riester pension and later the concept of the basic pension named after him. In health policy, he created the capitation fee. From 2005 to 2009 Bert Rürup was Chairman of the German Council of Economic Experts ("Wirtschaftsweise"), the highest German advisory body. From 2000 to 2009 he was chairman of the 'Social Advisory Council for Pension Insurance. In addition, he was appointed to head a 26-member panel of experts ("Rürup Commission"), which until autumn 2003 drew up proposals for securing the long-term financing of pension, health and long-term care insurance. From 2010 to 2015 Bert Rürup was also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the German Institute for Economic Research and from March 2010 to the end of 2012 he was President of the International School of Management. Since January 2013 he has been President of the Handelsblatt Research Institute and since February 2017 he has also been Chief Economist of the Handelsblatt.