Background
His father, a well-known professor of law, was for some years president of the national synod of the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland.
international organization executive
His father, a well-known professor of law, was for some years president of the national synod of the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland.
Attended, Heidelberg University, Zurich University. Attended, Harvard University, 1965—1966. Doctor of Philosophy, Tübingen University, 1970.
Raiser began studying theology in Tübingen in 1957, moving on to the theological school in Bethel, and later to the universities of Heidelberg and Zürich. He later became the Deputy General Secretary. Leaving the WCC in 1983, Raiser began to teach theology at Bochum University in Germany until he returned again to Geneva in 1992.
In August 1992, the WCC Central Committee elected Raiser as general secretary for a five-year term.
He assumed his responsibilities in January 1993, and in September 1996 was re-elected for a second five-year term which ran until the end of 2002. Noting the press of business facing the Council due to probable changes to be recommended by the Special Commission, and other items, the Central Committee, meeting in Potsdam in 2001, extended his term by one year to December 2003.
Raiser holds honorary doctorates from the Budapest Theological Academy (1992) and the University of Geneva (1996). He is the author of four books
His most recent is To Be the Church - Challenges and Hopes for a New Millennium, published by the WCC in 1997.
As general secretary of the WCC, he was editor of The Ecumenical Review. The Raisers have four sons: Martin (b 1967), Ulrich (b 1970), Simon (b 1974) and Christoph (b 1978).
Since 1970, he has written numerous articles and essays on theological and ecumenical subjects, including four entries in the Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement (WCC Publications, 1991), for which he was also a member of the editorial board.
Married Elisabeth von Weizsäcker, 1967. Children: Martin, Ulrich, Simon, Christoph.