Curriculum Vitae
From April 1998 to September 2025, Prof. Martin Löffelholz held the Chair of Media Studies at the Technische Universität Ilmenau, where he also headed the International Research Group on Crisis Communication, which he founded in 2002.
After studying communication science, political science, sociology, and European ethnology at the University of Münster and obtaining his doctorate in 1988 with a thesis on the political planning of academic journalism education, Prof. Löffelholz worked at the Universities of Münster and Leipzig until 1998. When he moved to the Technical University of Ilmenau, the Free State of Thuringia appointed him founding director of the Institute for Media and Communication Studies (IfMK) in 1999.
In addition to his membership in the Association of Award Winners and Alumni of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (“Humboldtianer”), Prof. Löffelholz held several visiting professorships outside Europe, including at Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta in Indonesia and Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. From 2012 to 2015, he was released from his duties as a university professor to take up the position of President of the Swiss German University in Jakarta, Indonesia. After his return, he headed the board of directors of the Institute for Media and Communication Studies (IfMK) at the Technical University of Ilmenau from 2017 to early 2021.
In his more than 430 scientific publications, including 24 books, Prof. Löffelholz focuses primarily on journalism, war and crisis communication, political communication, organizational communication, and intercultural and international aspects. He has led a large number of empirical research projects, including on risk and crisis communication by state institutions during the coronavirus pandemic, on the image of Germany among multipliers in the Maghreb states, on the media relations of the German and US armed forces, on the public relations work of the German domestic intelligence services, and on the attitudes of online journalists in Germany and the US.
Prof. Löffelholz is a member of various scientific associations, including the International Communication Association (ICA), the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), and the German Communication Association (DGPuK). From 1997 to 2000, he was spokesperson for the DGPuK's Journalism and Journalism Research Section and later initiated the DGPuK's International and Intercultural Communication Section.
For three decades, Prof. Löffelholz has also been active as an expert, consultant, and lecturer in international (development) cooperation, including for the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa), the German Academic Exchange Service, the Federal Foreign Office, political foundations, and other institutions. From 2008 to 2012, he led a series of continuing education events for journalists from ASEAN countries on behalf of GIZ. For ifa, he designed and moderated dialogue conferences in Abu Dhabi, Berlin, Jakarta, Nairobi, and Oman, among other places.
As part of his research work, he has frequently visited various countries in Africa, Asia, and South and Central America. He has conducted field research in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, El Salvador, Gambia, India, Indonesia, Yemen, Cambodia, Kenya, Kosovo, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Venezuela, Vietnam, and the People's Republic of China, among others. Before beginning his university career, he worked as a journalist, including several years as a television and radio reporter for Westdeutscher Rundfunk.
Publications
Publications
E-Mail: martin.loeffelholz@tu-ilmenau.de
