Theodor Berchem, born in 1935, is Professor Emeritus of Romance Philology at the University of Würzburg. He studied Romance languages and English at Cologne and the Sorbonne. He has also acquired knowledge of some fifteen other languages. His teachers include Professors Piel, Schalk and above all Boutière, who was his thesis supervisor, and Fouché.

He received scholarships from the Œuvre de Cusanus and the Görres Society. In 1966, he received his doctorate from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.

His fields of specialization include dialectology, phonetics, phonology, morphosyntax and stylistics.

From 1976 to 2003, Prof. Berchem was President of the University of Würzburg. From 1983 to 1987, he was President of the West German Rectors' Conference. Since 1988, he has been President of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). He is also an honorary member of various education and research committees, and is active in a wide range of academic and scientific fields.

In addition to numerous honors, he has been awarded honorary doctorates by thirteen foreign universities, including the Université de Paris-Sorbonne (Paris-IV) and the Université de Caen, and is professor h. c. at a Brazilian and Japanese university.