The Board of Trustees of the Kühne Foundation appoints Dr. Niklas Wilmking as Managing Director of the Kühne Foundation with effect from 1 January 2026. In this role, he will report to the President of the Board of Trustees, Klaus-Michael Kühne, and work closely with the Executive Director of the Board of Trustees, Dr Jörg Dräger.
Dr. Wilmking will be responsible for the strategic and operational management of logistics-related activities. This includes the Kühne Foundation's subsidiaries and programs such as the Kühne Climate Center, HELP Logistics, LEARN Logistics, the Foundation Alliance for Africa (SAfA) and the Foundation's intercontinental offices in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Jordan, Senegal and Singapore. In addition, he will support the further development of the Kühne Logistics University (KLU), particularly with regard to research and industry partnerships.
Dr. Wilmking was most recently a member of the Management Board of Schenker AG and was responsible for the Contract Logistics division. Prior to this, he was CEO of the Asia-Pacific region and also served as Managing Director of Schenker Vietnam. He began his career at Schenker in 2002 and has been a member of the Deutsche Bahn Foundation's Board of Trustees since 2016, where he was responsible for humanitarian logistics and international disaster relief. He holds a PhD in logistics from the Technical University Berlin.
Dr. Jörg Dräger: "The Kühne Foundation uses its logistics expertise in a targeted manner to promote disaster and development aid, climate protection and science worldwide. With Dr Wilmking, an experienced leader is taking over responsibility for the Foundation's logistics-related activities. His proven expertise in the fields of logistics and management will play a key role in driving forward the strategic development and international scaling of our projects. I am delighted that Dr. Wilmking will join the Kühne Foundation."
Dr. Niklas Wilmking: "Humanitarian crises, poverty and climate change are global challenges and require concrete, effective solutions. Logistics plays a key role here. I am looking forward to helping shape the Kühne Foundation's programs and contributing my practical experience in logistics, operations in disaster areas and development cooperation. Klaus-Michael Kühne's vision of using logistics for the common good is more relevant than ever – and lives on in the Kühne Logistics University, which realizes this aspiration scientifically. I see it as a great task and opportunity to be able to contribute."