Dr. h.c. Josef Beutelmann (1949) has been Chairperson of the Supervisory Board of the Barmenia insurance companies since 2013 and Chairman of the University Council of the University of Wuppertal since 2007. The trained insurance salesman (started his apprenticeship in 1964) and graduate in business administration and business administration has worked for the Barmenia (insurance) companies his entire professional life. In 1989, he was appointed to the Board, of which he was Chairperson from 1998 to 2013. He was appointed General Director in 1999.
Dr. h.c. Josef Beutelmann was Chairperson of the Employers’ Association of Insurance Companies in Germany (AGV) from 2006-2015, Vice President of the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (BDA) from 2007-2015 and Chairman of the Board of the Vocational Training Center of the German Insurance Industry (2004-2016). In 2006, the Faculty of Economics – Schumpeter School of Business and Economics at the University of Wuppertal awarded him an honorary doctorate.
In June 2021, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for his decades of commitment to the professional sector – business, science, education and medicine.