Dr. Annette Schwandner (born 1958) has studied history and geography at the Universities of Bielefeld and Muenster in Germany. As a career civil servant she has 14 year of experience in the museums business, both as a supervisor and exhibitions maker. For more than two years she was also the personal advisor to the Undersecretary for Culture of the State Government of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

At present she is the head of the culture department at the Ministry for Science and the Arts of the State of Lower Saxony.

She is an active member if the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and also received a USIA grant in 1995.