RWTH Aachen University Notable Alumni List

Many people from RWTH Aachen University go on doing big things in many places, like science or politics or business, kinda all over. You see names like Hugo Junkers, B.J. Habibie, Necmettin Erbakan, Karl Lauterbach, and Peter Debye.

RWTH Aachen is a very old technical school, it started in 1870, and you learn mostly engineering, tech stuff, and science things here. Some students say the research here feels very strong and helpful, so many students from everywhere want to study at this place. Right now, RWTH Aachen ranking is around 105 QS World University Rankings 202, and people also put it in top 10 universities in Germany, which is kind of a big thing.

Some alumni from RWTH Aachen do huge things later. Like B.J. Habibie, he became Indonesia's 3rd President. And Necmettin Erbakan also turned into a Prime Minister of Turkey. Not only politics, you got Karl Lauterbach too, he works as Germany health minister, so lot of fields get covered by old RWTH students.

There’s also a super huge alumni group, like more than 28,000 members all around the world, and each one is doing something in their life that kinda spreads the name of the university. So this page shows you some top RWTH Aachen alumni and what cool things they did.

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Top 10 RWTH Aachen University Notable Alumni

With an alumni network of 28,000+ members across the globe, RWTH Aachen University has a strong legacy of producing thousands of excellent minds, science geniuses, artists, and world leaders. 

RWTH is among the leading European scientific and research institutions. As per the latest admission statistics, the RWTH Aachen University acceptance rate is approximately 10% for international students reflecting a highly competitive and selective admissions process. 

Here is the list of the top 10 notable alumni from different corners of the world who have pursued education at RWTH Aachen University. 

Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie

Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, also called BJ Habibie, was the third President of Indonesia. He studied aerospace engineering at RWTH Aachen University. People know him not only for his political life but also for his big work in Engineering and Science. He helped Indonesia build its first own aircraft called N-250, which was a very proud moment for the country.

Necmettin Erbakan

Necmettin Erbakan was a well-known Turkish leader. He became Prime Minister of Turkey for a short time between 1996 and 1997. He did his mechanical engineering studies at RWTH Aachen University in Germany. He also started the National Salvation Party (MSP) in 1972. Many people say he tried to bring Turkey closer to the Islamic world. His ideas on changing the political and economic system influenced many people in the country.

Karl Lauterbach

Karl Lauterbach is a famous German doctor and also a politician. He is known mainly because he works as the Federal Minister of Health in Germany. Karl studied medicine at RWTH Aachen University. Later, he did higher studies in health economics and public health. He has a doctorate too. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many of his health steps helped Germany control the situation in a better way.

Peter Debye

He was a famous Dutch-American physicist. He got the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1936. He got Noble Prize for his amazing work on molecular structure. He completed part of his education at RWTH Aachen University. His work is important in Science, Mathematics, and Physics.

August Kekule

August Kekule was a well-known German chemist. He is mostly known for his work in organic chemistry. He got his doctorate in 1857. He later worked on improving chemical studies.

Karlheinz Brandenburg

Karlheinz Brandenburg is a German electrical engineer and mathematician. He studied electrical engineering at RWTH Aachen University and finished his doctorate in 1989. He is very well-known for creating the MP3 audio codec. This changed digital music forever. He was born in 1954 in Erlangen, Germany.

Harald Krüger

Harald Krüger is the former CEO of BMW AG. He studied Mechanical Engineering at RWTH Aachen University. He was the CEO of BMW from 2015 to 2020. Many people say he helped the company move towards digital ideas and worked on future technology like autonomous driving.