Wolfgang Glänzel was born on 13 April, 1955 in Frankfurt (Oder), East-Germany. He studied Mathematics at the Eötvös University Budapest, Hungary (1974-1979) (field of specialisation: Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics). He worked as assistant lecturer at the Dept. Mathematics & Informatics of the University of Applied Sciences Mittweida (Saxonia, East-Germany) in 1979-1980. Since 1980, he is a member of the Bibliometrics research unit at the Library, from 2002 on, at the Institute for Research Organisation of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He is doing research in Bibliometrics and mathematics (applied probability theory).

He received his Dr. rer. nat. from the Faculty of Science of the Eötvös University Budapest (Hungary) in 1984. He was Research Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at several German institutions (1990-1991) and 1995-1996). Head of a research group conducting a large bibliometric study on scientific research in Europe (1996-1997). He received his PhD from the Faculty of Social Sciences of University Leiden (Netherlands) in 1997 (nostrificated at the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University for Technology and Economics Budapest in 2000). Also mentor for mathematics at the Distance Education Centre (Budapest) of the Fernuniversität Hagen (Germany) 2000-2001. Senior research fellow at the Dept. Applied Economics of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium).

Publications
Wolfgang Glänzel is author/co-author of more than 100 publications and guest editor of several dedicated issues of journals in science studies.

Membership and awards
- President of the Research Association for Science Communication and Information e. V. (RASCI) in Berlin
- Secretary-Treasurer of the International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics (ISSI)
- Honorary member of the Society for Science Studies e. V. (GeWiF) in Berlin
- Member of the Hungarian Humboldt Association
- Co-Editor of the international journal Scientometrics
- Prize of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences awarded to young scientists (1986)
- International Derek deSolla Price Award for outstanding contributions to the quantitative studies of science (1999)

See his reviewing report