In a career that has spanned over 45 years at Bayer, Manfred held several positions including chairman of the board of management and chairman of the supervisory board. He is chairman of the supervisory boards of Linde AG, the industrial engineering company, and RWE AG, the utility company. Manfred joined Bayer AG in 1966. After working in the organization, auditing and cost accounting departments, in 1971 he was appointed head of the finance and accounting department of Bayer AG subsidiary, Duisburger Kupferhütte. In 1984, he became head of regional coordination, corporate auditing and controlling within the corporate staff division in Leverkusen. Manfred joined the board of management in 1987 and served for ten years as chairman of the board of management beginning in 1992, when he also became chairman of the board committee for corporate coordination. In 2002 he became chairman of the supervisory board of Bayer AG, holding this office until 2012. Manfred served as president of the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) from 1999 until 2001. Manfred has a Ph.D. from Aachen Technical University and a degree in business management from the Universities of Freiburg, Hamburg, Cologne.