1980 Dr.phil.habil. (Habilitation: elegibility for full professorship; Hamburg University)
1983-1994 Professor of African linguistics (Hamburg University)
1994-2009 Full Professor & Chair of African linguistics (Leipzig University)
Senior academic positions in Africa:
1980/81-1981/82 University of Maiduguri, Nigeria
1986/87-1988/89 University of Niamey, Niger
"Visiting Professor" (after retirement 2009):
2011/12-2012/3 Adama University, Ethiopia
2014/15 Rhodes University, South Africa
2015 University of the Western Cape, South Africa
2016/17 Helsinki University, Finland
2017/18 Rhodes University, South Africa