Dr. Ralph Sven Kaufmann was born on January 19, 1966 in Berlin, Germany. He received training as a bank officer in the Dresdner Bank AG, Düsseldorf from 1985 to 1987. From 1987 to 1992, he studied economics and business administration at the University of Cologne and the New York University. In 1995, he was awarded doctorate (Dr. rer. pol.) at the University of Cologne.Dr. Kaufmann began his career in corporate controlling at Henkel KGaA in Düsseldorf from 1995 to 1996. He worked from 1997 to 1998 as project manager for an international strategic management consultancy in Düsseldorf. In 1999, he established the management consultancy SCOPEIN Management Consultants in Düsseldorf, where he was appointed managing partner from 2001 to 2015. Since July 1, 2015, Dr. Kaufmann has become Member of the Executive Board and Chief Operating Officer of Evonik Industries AG, Essen.