The administrative scientist and emeritus professor Dr Klaus Lenk has been awarded the Federal Cross of Merit First Class for his commitment to sustainable public administration. Federal Minister of the Interior Dr Hans-Peter Friedrich presented him with the decoration awarded by the Federal President.
He honoured Lenk as "a distinguished administrative scientist who sees his academic work as a responsibility for the community". According to the Federal Minister of the Interior, the endeavours of the state and administration in the service of the humane development of society run like a common thread through his life's work.
After studying Law in Heidelberg and Munich and working as an assistant in Frankfurt/Main, Lenk was appointed to the Chair of Public Administration at the University of Oldenburg in 1975. His research focus includes administrative informatics and eGovernment. Lenk was a member of numerous national and international committees and scientific bodies. Until 2003, he was spokesman for the Computing Science Society's specialised committee on administrative informatics.
He was significantly involved in the groundbreaking memorandum Electronic Government of the Gesellschaft für Computing Science and the VDE. He was also largely responsible for the eGovernment in Europe report. He is on the editorial boards of numerous specialist journals and publication series. Lenk was awarded emeritus status in 2005, but is still active in research. He has also been a visiting professor at the Danube University Krems since 2005.
