Herbert Waldmann is Director at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology and Professor of Biochemistry at TU Dortmund University. His research focuses on the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of novel biologically active compounds.

He studied chemistry at the University of Mainz, where he received his PhD under Horst Kunz. Following a postdoctoral appointment with George Whitesides at Harvard University and a habilitation at the University of Mainz, he held an Associate Professorship in Karlsruhe before his appointment in Dortmund.

Professor Waldmann is widely recognized for developing the Biology Oriented Synthesis (BIOS) concept and the Pseudo-Natural Product (PNP) principle, which draw inspiration from natural product structures to guide compound discovery.

He is the recipient of the Otto-Bayer-Award, the Max Bergmann Medal, the Josef Rudinger Award of the European Peptide Society, the Hans-Herloff-Inhoffen-Medal, the Emil-Fischer-Medal, the Liebig Denkmünze, the Richard-Willstätter Prize, the Otto Hahn Prize, the Paul Karrer Medal, the Yamada-Koga Prize, and the Nauta Award of the EFMC for Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology. He is a Member of the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina, Halle (Saale), and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. In 2014, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate (Dr. h. c.) by Leiden University, Netherlands.