Manfred G. Schmidt (born 1948) is a German political scientist. He is professor of political science at the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg.
Early life and education.
Manfred G. Schmidt was born in 1948 in Donauwörth, Germany. After studying political science and English studies, he received his PhD in political science from the University of Tübingen, directed by Gerhard Lehmbruch. He received his postdoctoral degree (Habilitation) from the University of Konstanz in 1981.
Career.
In 1982, he was appointed professor of political science at the Free University of Berlin. In 1987, he became professor of political science at the University of Heidelberg. After conducting research at the Center for Social Policy Studies, University of Bremen, from 1997, he returned to a professorship at the University of Heidelberg in 2001. He was the director of the Institute of Political Science at the University of Heidelberg from that time until 2006. Since 2006/07, Schmidt has been dean of the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg.
In 1981, he was awarded the Stein Rokkan Prize. In 1995, he received the Leibniz Prize of the German Research Council (DFG). In 1999, a survey of the German Research Council among political scientists ranked him as the third most important political scientist in Germany, and as the most important researcher in comparative politics in Germany. 
He was elected as a member of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences in 2002 and as a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities one year later.
His research focuses on political institutions in Germany, social policies in comparative perspectives and theories of democracy.
References.
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