Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. em.  Detlef Junker

The HCA's founding director was born in Pinneberg near Hamburg. He studied history, political science, philosophy, and German philology in Innsbruck and Kiel, where he earned his PhD in 1969. In 1974 Professor Junker was appointed associate professor at the University of Stuttgart. He taught modern history at Heidelberg University from 1975 to 1994 and held the Curt Engelhorn Chair for American History there from 1999 to 2004. From 1994 to 1999, he served as the Director of the German Historical Institute in Washington, D.C. After his official retirement in 2004 he dedicated himself to founding and building the HCA and was instrumental in its institutional and academic success. The foci of his research are U.S. foreign policy in the twentieth century, German history, international relations and the history of transatlantic relations, and the theory of history. In 2005, Professor Junker was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of the University of Maryland – University College Europe (UMUC) in Heidelberg, recognizing his commitment to fostering German-American dialogue and cross-cultural understanding. In 2007, he was appointed Distinguished Senior Professor of Heidelberg University. From 2009 to 2013, Professor Junker served as president of the American Studies Network Association (ASN) Europe. In 2010, he received the Federal Cross of Merit for his exceptional support of American Studies as a discipline, his academic teaching, and his entrepreneurial abilities. In 2014, he was named Honorary Roosevelt Fellow of the Roosevelt Study Center in Middelburg, the Netherlands.

• American History since the 18th Century
• History of US Foreign Policy
• History of German-American Relations
• Theory of History
• 19th and 20th Century German History
• International Relations in the 19th and 20th Century

2018: Founding Director Emeritus, HCA  
2004-2018: Founding Director, HCA
1999-2004: Curt Engelhorn Chair for American History, University of Heidelberg 
1994-1999: Director, German Historical Institute, Washington, D.C. 
1975-1999: Professor of Modern History, University of Heidelberg
1974: Habilitation, University of Stuttgart, Venia legendi „Modern History and Theory of History”
1974: Associate Professor, University of Stuttgart
1971: DAAD research Fellow, Washington D.C. 
1970-1971: Max-Kade-Foundation Fellow, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Yale University 
1967-1974: Assistant Professor, University of Stuttgart
1967: PhD, University of Kiel
1962-1967: Degree Programs in History, Political Science, Philosophy, and German Philology at the Universities of Kiel and Innsbruck
1961-1962: Journalist und Redakteur

• 2014: Honorary Roosevelt Fellow for Life of the Roosevelt Study Center for Life
• 2010: Merit Cross on Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 2009-2011: President American Studies Network Association Europe (ASN)
• 2007: Distinguished Senior Professor of the University of Heidelberg
• 2005: Honorary Doctorate, University of Maryland University College-Europe
• 1988-2008: Member International Advisory Board, Roosevelt Study Center, Middelburg

Deutschland und die USA 1871–2021. heiBOOKS, Heidelberg 2021.
GIs in Germany: The Social, Economic, Cultural, and Political History of the American Military Presence, with Thomas W. Maulucci. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
1968. The World Transformed, with  and . Washington, D.C.: German Historical Institute and Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Die USA und Deutschland im Zeitalter des Kalten Krieges, 1945–1990. Ein Handbuch. 2 Vol. Ed. with Philipp Gassert,  and David B. Morris. DVA: Stuttgart/München, 2001. (American edition: The United States and Germany in the Era of the Cold War. Volume 1: 1945–1968; Volume 2: 1968–1990. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004). 
Der unteilbare Weltmarkt. Das ökonomische Interesse in der Außenpolitik der USA 1933–1941. Habilitationsschrift. Klett: Stuttgart, 1975.
Die Deutsche Zentrumspartei und Hitler 1932/33. Ein Beitrag zur Problematik des politischen Katholizismus in Deutschland. Ernst Klett Verlag: Stuttgart, 1969 (Also Kiel, Univ., Diss., 1967 ent.: Die politische Einschätzung Hitlers durch die Deutsche Zentrumspartei 1932/33).

• Founder Heidelberg Center for American Studies, University of Heidelberg, 2003
• Co-Founder Curt Engelhorn Chair in American History, University of Heidelberg, 1999
• Founder, "Schurman Library for American History” at the University of Heidelberg, 1986