Curriculum Vitae Dr. Thomas Gambke

Thomas Gambke was born in 1949 in Rimsting (State of Bavaria). He grew up in Bonn and Hannover before he studied physics in Darmstadt, gaining his Diploma in 1976 and his Ph.D. in 1981 specializing in solid state physics, magnetism, thin films and superconductivity. As a postdoctoral fellow he then spent a year at the University of California, San Diego, USA. Back to Germany, he joined the VDI Technology Center, Berlin (West) from 1982-1984. There,  he took on responsibility for public funding of industrial and university research and development programs.

1984 he joined SCHOTT AG, Mainz where he built up a department for thin films and applied products, especially an electrochromic glare free automotive rear view mirror. In 1990 he joined SCHOTT in Landshut, where he headed the development of this plant into a global business. In short sequence he established companies in the Czech Republic (1992) Singapore (1994), Japan (2000) and USA (2001). Starting as a small national plant of the SCHOTT group, SCHOTT Electronics is now a substantial part of SCHOTT's international activities, which Gambke headed as CEO from 1996 until 2006. From 2000 until 2002 Gambke took over the responsibility as Vice president of NEC SCHOTT Components at Ohtsu, Japan in addition to his chairmanship of SCHOTT Electronics. For this time he lived at Ashiya, Hyogo prefecture, between Osaka and Kobe. In 2007 Gambke left SCHOTT and started an own business (Lithoglas AG, Berlin).

His political career started in 2004, when he joined the Green party, building up an economics and finance expert group in Bavaria for the Green party. He gained a mandate at the City Council of Landshut in 2008 and – in 2009 – a mandate as Member of Parliament of the Deutscher Bundestag. He is member of the Finance Committee of the Bundestag and chairman of the ASEAN Parliamentary Friendship Group of the German Bundestag. In January 2011 he joined the Enquete Commission on Growth, Wealth and Quality of Life.