Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler-Thumann, leader in the high tech manufacturing industry, receives the 2016 Global Leadership Award

New York, NY – AGI proudly presented Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler-Thumann, Gesellschafterin/Partner, INA-Holding Schaeffler GmbH & Co., KG with the 2016 Global Leadership Award at a gala dinner on November 17.  The award recognizing Ms. Schaeffler-Thumann’s enduring positive influence on the German-American partnership was presented in front of an audience of over 400 corporate leaders and policy experts from the U.S. and Germany. As a leader in the high tech manufacturing industry, Mrs. Schaeffler has contributed greatly to the ties between Germany, Europe, and the United States, and we are delighted to welcome her among the Institute’s distinguished Global Leadership Award recipients.

Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler-Thumann is Deputy Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of Schaeffler AG. As shareholder of the Schaeffler Group, she is continuing the lifelong work of her first husband, Dr. Ing. E. h. Georg Schaeffler, who died in 1996. She was born in Prague and grew up in Vienna, where she attended medical school at Vienna University. In 2014, Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler-Thumann married Jürgen Thumann, the former President of the Federation of German Industries.

Schaeffler Group is a leading family-owned global high-tech company based in Herzogenaurach, Germany. With the INA and FAG product brands, Schaeffler is the world’s second-largest manufacturer of ball bearings and machine components, and has the widest range of products among all suppliers. Ms. Schaeffler-Thumann and the dedicated management team have successfully continued to develop the group of companies, with the acquisition of clutch manufacturer LuK in 1999, the acquisition of FAG Kugelfischer Georg Schäfer AG Schweinfurt in 2001, and the acquisition of a significant proportion of the shares of Continental AG in 2008.

Today, Schaeffler Group, which had revenues of $13.2 billion in 2015, is active in the automotive, industrial, and aerospace sectors, and employs 84,000 in about 170 locations in 50 countries.

Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler-Thumann takes a particular personal interest in employee development, and strives to provide her employees with a quality workplace environment. The close connections between the shareholders, management, and employees have proven highly effective for many years.

Along with her dedication to representing the company on supervisory boards, with organizations, and on committees, Ms. Schaeffler-Thumann places a high value on social responsibility, which she exemplifies in many different ways. She has received many honors and awards for her exceptional entrepreneurial success and outstanding achievements.

About AGI

The American-German Institute (AGI) is a nonprofit policy institute affiliated with Johns Hopkins University.  Focused on German-American relations, AGI examines and interprets the policy challenges confronting leadership circles in the German and U.S. constituencies it serves.  Based in Washington, DC, AGI is the only independent, nonpartisan U.S. think tank that partners with policymakers at every level of government, with corporate leaders, and with other policy-oriented actors to craft mutual solutions to today’s biggest issues.

By examining the issues confronting the two countries, AGI offers insights into how policy choices can reverberate beyond the German-American relationship. We focus on where interests overlap and clash, where experiences and lessons can be shared, and where the partnership can be most effective.

AGI is an idea producer. Our mission is to provide research that leads to new solutions to public policy challenges facing the U.S. and Germany.  We look at the critical challenges confronting the U.S. and Germany within a broader global framework. By weaving together respective transatlantic perceptions, narratives, policy responses, and prescriptions, AGI enhances the debate across the Atlantic.

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