Bettina Böttinger
Bettina Böttinger was born in Düsseldorf, Germany. She is a history and language graduate of the University of Bonn. Böttinger began her career as a journalist with Westdeutscher Rundfunk in Cologne and is an award-winning presenter of television programmes that include Hier und Heute, Parlazzo, B. trifft . . . and Kölner Treff. She is also a long-time supporter of women's rights organisation Medica Mondiale, child-welfare organisation Burundikids and HIV/AIDS awareness. In 2007, she was awarded the Federal Republic of Germany's Order of Merit Cross and, in 2009, was awarded the Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.