Wolf-Dieter Lukas has been State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) since September 2019. He holds a PhD in Physics, is an honorary professor at the Technische Universität Berlin and joined the BMBF in 1986. Prior to his appointment as State Secretary, he was Director-General for Research for Digitalization and Innovation for 14 years. Prior to this, he was Deputy Director-General for Information and Communication and, until April 2001, he was Head of the Directorate for Information and Communication Technology Basic Policy Issues. Between 1996 and 1998 he was Personal Assistant to State Secretaries Helmut Stahl and Gebhard Ziller.

Wolf-Dieter Lukas studied physics at Freie Universität Berlin between 1976 and 1981. After his studies, he initially worked as a PhD student for four years and later as a research assistant at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart. In 1984, he earned his PhD in physics at the Technische Universität Darmstadt. Following on from his work as a researcher, he then joined the BMBF.

Wolf-Dieter Lukas was born on 1 February 1957 in Berlin-Charlottenburg.