Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie Born in June 25, 1936, in Parepare, South Sulawesi. Bacharuddin Habibie left Indonesia for Germany in 1955. There, he studied aircraft engineering and worked for Messerschmidt Bolkow Blohm until 1974. He became Minister for Science and Technology in 1976. Bacharuddin Habibie was Chairman of the Indonesian Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (1983-1998), Chairman of the National Research Council (1984-1998), Chairman of the Management Council for Strategic, Defence and Security Industries (1988-1998), and Chairman of the Agency for Strategic Industries (BPIS, 1989-1998). In 1990, he was elected Chairman of the Indonesian Muslim Intellectual Association (ICMI). A close, if not the closest advisor to President Suharto, he was elected Vice-president on March 10th, 1998 and sworn in as President on May 21st 1998, when President Suharto stepped down. President Habibie retired from politics at the end of his mandate in 2000 and currently lives in Germany. | |||
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