| born in Everswinkel near Münster (in Westphalia, northwestern Germany) on the 114th birthday of Georg Cantor |
| 1977 - 1983 | Studies of Physics (until 1979) and Mathematics at the TH Darmstadt and the University of Essex in Colchester (1980-81) |
| 1983 | Diplom in Mathematics, TH Darmstadt (supervisor: Vasco Osório) |
| 1984 - 1985 | Alternative service in Heidelberg |
| 1985 - 1996 | Research assistant at the Universität Trier (1985-90) and the Fernuniversität Hagen (1990-96) with a research stay at Imperial College, London (1986-88) |
| 1986 | PhD in Mathematics, Universität Trier (supervisor: Wolfgang Luh) |
| 1993 | Habilitation in Mathematics, FernUniversität Hagen |
| 1996 - 2003 | Hochschuldozent (assistant professor), FernUniversität Hagen |
| 2002 | apl. professor, FernUniversität Hagen |