Gertrud Pfister, a professor at the University of Copenhagen, studied Latin, physical education, history and sociology in Munich and Regensburg. She gained a Ph.D. in history at the University of Regensburg in 1976 and a Ph.D. in sociology at Ruhr-Universität Bochum in 1980. From 1981 to 2001 she served as professor of sport history at the Free University in Berlin, and since 2001 as professor at the Institute of Exercise and Sport Sciences, University of Copenhagen. Currently president of the International Sport Sociology Association and head of the scientific committee of the International Association for Physical Education and Sport for Girls, she has also headed other sport societies and associations. Pfister has been guest professor at universities in Finland, Canada, Brazil and Chile and keynote speaker at numerous congresses.
The author of several books and over two hundred articles, she has specialized in research on gender and sport.
