Herbert Danninger studied technical chemistry at the Vienna University of Technology and also completed his doctorate on the subject of "Influence of manufacturing conditions on the properties of tungsten heavy metals". He subsequently remained loyal to powder metallurgy and sintering technology and spent numerous research stays at the TU Dresden, a center of sintering theory. In 1990, he habilitated in the field of powder metallurgy, and in 2003 he was appointed University Professor of Chemical Technology of Inorganic Materials. From 2004 to 2011, he was Head of the Institute of Chemical Technology and Analytics and from 2011 to 2019 Dean of the Faculty of Technical Chemistry. The promotion of young scientists was a particular concern of his; numerous career positions were filled during his tenure. The refurbishment and modernization measures of the chemistry buildings begun under his predecessor Johannes Fröhlich were also successfully completed. Herbert Danninger retired in October 2021. 

Numerous research projects, mostly in collaboration with industry, resulted in 68 dissertations completed under his supervision and over 550 scientific publications. From 2009 to 2020, Herbert Danninger was also Chairman of the "Joint Powder Metallurgy Committee", which brings together research and industry in this important field for the German-speaking world. He holds an honorary doctorate from the TU Cluj-Napoca, the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and the University of Craiova and is a Fellow of the American Powder Metallurgy Institute and the European Powder Metallurgy Association as well as a recipient of the "Ivor Jenkins Medal" from the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, London.