Vera was born and raised in Weinheim, Germany. She earned a Staatsexamen Diploma, equivalent to a Master’s Degree, in German Literature and History at Heidelberg University. She later completed her studies with a PhD in German Literature also at Heidelberg University.
While working on her PhD Vera taught at Studienkolleg in Heidelberg. Upon completing her doctorate, she was sent by the University to Beijing to manage a partnership programme with Beijing Foreign Studies University, where she met her husband who is also an academic specialising in Chinese literature. With her husband, Vera has travelled and taught German language and literature in different settings, mostly working as a Assistant Professor or Lecturer at university level: in addition to Heidelberg and Beijing Foreign Studies University, she has taught at Cornell in the USA, McGill and Concordia in Canada, amongst others. More recently, she started working with IB schools and has taught at two IB World Schools in the USA. Along with German A Literature and German Ab Initio, and IGCSE German, she has taught TOK and has served as CAS and IBDP Coordinator, and has supervised Extended Essays. This experience of living and working internationally, and extensive experience in academia topped by 15 years’ experience in IB schools make Vera uniquely qualified to work with our IB German students.