Ralf Stegner (born 2. October 1959 in Bad Dürkheim) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He is the current leader of the SPD in Schleswig-Holstein, he has held this office since 2007.In addition to his degree in Political Science, History and German from the University of Freiburg (1980-7), Stegner earned a Masters of Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (1987-9).From 1996 to 2005, Stegner served in various roles in the state government of Minister-President Heide Simonis. He was State Secretary for Labor, Social Affairs and Health from 1996 to 1998 before serving as State Secretary for Education, Research and Cultural Affairs from 1998 to 2003. Between 2003 and until Simonis’ resignation in 2005, he was the State Minister of Finance. Wikipedia