Wolfgang Haken is most known for his work on three dimensional manifolds. Such is his prominence in this field that three dimensional manifolds are often referred to as Haken manifolds. Haken has also published extensively on four color map theorem, a branch of graph theory. In 1976 he produced a complete solution for the four color map theorem, this was the first major theorem to be proven using a computer.

Wolfgang Haken was born in Berlin in 1928. He attended university in Kiel where he studied mathematics, philosophy and physics, eventually receiving his doctorate in 1953. From 1954 to 1962 Haken worked for Siemens in Munich, this was in the research and development section, specialising in the application of microwave technology. At this time Haken was still carrying out research in mathematics and his discovery of a mathematical technique for discovering if a knot is knotted or not resulted in an invitation to become a visiting professor at the University of Illinois. In 1965 he was given a full chair at the University of Illinois. In 1990 he was made a member of the Center for Advanced Study in the United States and in 1993 he was given an honrary doctorate from Frankfurt University.

Haken is still active in his research interests in has maintained links with the University of Illinois where he is emeritus professor.