Max Planck Society appoints Frank Appel as external vice-president

At its meeting on June 13, 2024, the Senate of the Max Planck Society appointed  Frank Appel, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Telekom AG, as external Vice President—a role that has proven effective for the Max Planck Society over the past few decades. With his extensive experience in various industry positions, Appel will complement the expertise of the internal scientific Vice Presidents and bring a different perspective to many issues.

Frank Appel is currently the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Telekom AG in Bonn. He has been a member of the Senate of the Max Planck Society since 2017 and a member of the Executive Board since 2023. Appel will assume the office of Vice President of the Max Planck Society for the remainder of his first term on the Executive Committee, which lasts until the 2029 Annual Meeting. Prior to Appel, Andreas Barner (Boehringer Ingelheim) served as the external Vice President of the Max Planck Society from 2016 to June 2023.

Frank Appel completed his degree in chemistry at the University of Munich in 1989 and received his doctorate in neurobiology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1993. He then took on various roles at McKinsey & Co. in Frankfurt/Main. In 2000, he moved to Deutsche Post DHL Group, where he became a member of the Board of Management in 2002. In 2008, Appel was appointed Chairman of the Board of Management of Deutsche Post DHL Group, a position he held until the beginning of May 2023.

This article was first published on 13 June by Max Planck Society.