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Wolf-Ruthart Born (* 11). August 1944 in Görlitz is a German diplomat, most recently State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office from 2009 to July 2011.

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After graduating from high school, Born joined the Bundeswehr as a temporary soldier and today holds the rank of lieutenant colonel of the R. From 1967 he studied law and history in Saarbrücken and at Amherst College in the USA. From 1972 to 1973 he studied at the Bologna Center of the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. Between 1971 and 1975 he completed his training as a full lawyer and worked at the Spanish-German Chamber of Commerce in Barcelona. In 1977 he completed his doctorate with an international law thesis at the University of Kiel as Dr. jur.

Born joined the Federal Foreign Office in April 1975 as an attaché. From 1977 to 1979 he headed the Press and Culture Department at the German Embassy in Khartoum/Sudan. From 1980 to 1982 he was head of the Consular Department at the Embassy of Buenos Aires/Argentina. Back in Bonn, he worked at the Federal Chancellery from 1983 to 1985, where he was responsible for bilateral relations with all Western European countries, including Turkey, the preparation of the European Councils and the negotiations on the establishment of the Schengen Agreement. In 1986 he joined the Royal College for Defense Studies in London. Back at the Federal Foreign Office in Bonn, he worked in the Mediterranean Department from January 1987 to March 1989, focusing on Turkey, Greece and Cyprus. He then went to the Embassy in Pretoria/South Africa as Permanent Representative. In October 1992, he took over the management of the legal division responsible for visa issues, asylum, foreigners’ rights and Schengen. Subsequently, he headed the Department for Consular Affairs and the Legal Department of the Federal Foreign Office. As ambassador he was in Mexico from 1999 to 2003 and in Turkey until 2006. From March 2006 to October 2009 he headed the Embassy in Madrid. His successor there was Reinhard Silberberg, from whom Born took over the post of State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office with worldwide responsibility for political relations, including Europe, the United Nations, NATO, disarmament and arms control. Born has received numerous awards, including the Order of the French Legion of Honour, the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabel la Católica, the Order of Aguila Azteca and the Federal Cross of Merit 1st class. From 2012 to 2017, Born was Senior Advisor to the Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT). Since leaving the Federal Foreign Office, he has worked as an international consultant and in numerous volunteer positions.

He is Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of the Institute for European Politics, member of the advisory board of the magazine Business & Diplomacy, member of the Advisory Board of the Near and Middle East Association, member of the Board of Trustees of AIESEC, deputy