Our Leadership

Bucerius Law School is a nonprofit organization whose sole shareholder is the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS. Its management reports to a Board of Trustees and a Supervisory Board.

President

Professor Dr. Michael Grünberger

Since 1 October, 2023, Michael Grünberger (born 1974) is President of Bucerius Law School and holds the Claussen-Simon-Chair for Private Law and Responsive Jurisprudence.

Michael Grünberger completed his law studies at the University of Cologne (1st State Examination in Law, 1999) before completing postgraduate studies at New York University (LL.M., 2005). Two of his legal clerkships he spent at the Higher Regional Court of Cologne and an internationally oriented law firm in New York (2nd state law examination, 2002). After successfully completing his doctorate at the University of Cologne ("The Interpreter's Law" (Performers Rights), 2005, awarded the Doctoral Prize of the Faculty of Law), Grünberger worked as a post-doch researcher at the Institute for Intellectual Property at the University of Cologne from 2005 to 2011 where he completed his habilitation in 2011 with a thesis on "Personal Equality - The Principle of Equal Treatment in Civil Law". Since 2012 he has held the Chair for Civil, Commercial and Technology Law at the University of Bayreuth. From 2012 to 2015 he was the Spokesperson for the DFG graduate school " Intellectual Property and Public Domain.” Since April 2016, he has been managing director of the Institute for Copyright and Media Law in Munich.

Grünberger was appointed President of Bucerius Law School on October 1, 2023.

CEO

Meinhard Weizmann

Meinhard Weizmann (*1970) has served as CEO at Bucerius Law School since October 1, 2016.

Meinhard Weizmann studied Business Administration at the University of Würzburg and in Caen, France and minored in Business Informatics and Russian.

Between 2000 and 2016, Weizmann was employed by the media firm Bertelsmann, having served most recently as Senior Vice President Finance Transformation. Prior to this role, he was COO and Managing Director of Gruner + Jahr in the Netherlands (2007-2014). In addition to having overseen continual increases in operational performance, he spearheaded efforts to innovate and support the company’s digital transformation. In a Hamburg-based position, Weizmann headed international strategy development for Gruner + Jahr between 2002 and 2006. During this time, he focused on growth initiatives - organic and the result of acquisitions.

Specializing in business transformation and digital business development, Weizmann worked for Bertelsmann in the UK and Royal Dutch Shell Group in France and Germany. He is committed to the cause of refugee integration. Happily married and the proud father of three children, Meinhard Weizmann is an advocate for refugee integration.

Deputy CEO

Benedikt Landgrebe

Benedikt Landgrebe (* 1971) has served as Deputy CEO of Bucerius Law School since May 2010.

Benedikt Landgrebe studied history, politics and economics at the University of Edinburgh and graduated with a Master of Arts in modern history and politics. After receiving his degree, he took part in a postgraduate program on “External Economic Relations of the EU” at the Europa Kolleg Hamburg.From 1997 to 1998, Benedikt Landgrebe researched for a Brussels based independent political advocacy organisation in the area of security and foreign affairs, while simultaneously completing a second Master’s degree in international relations at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. He worked as a research assistant in the European Parliament from 1998 to 2001, where his focus was on the discussion of the European Constitution and how the topic was communicated nationally and Europe-wide.

Benedikt Landgrebe joined Bucerius Law School in 2002 as press relations officer. In the summer of 2005, he took over the project management of the new Master’s program (Bucerius/WHU Master of Law and Business), while also supporting the management in planning the construction of the new library building.

In March 2007, Benedikt Landgrebe took on further responsibilities in fundraising. He assumed responsibility for heading up the entire university communications in 2009. Since May 2010, Benedikt Landgrebe is Deputy CEO of Bucerius Law School.

Supervisory Board

The Supervisory Board appoints and advises the CEO and monitors the financial development of the company and Law School.

Members:

  • Professor Manuel J. Hartung, Chair
  • Michael Behrendt
  • Dr. Isabella Niklas

Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees elects the Dean and advises and accompanies the Law School in designing and further developing the Law School.

Members:

  • Dr. Christian Veith (Chairman), Senior Partner and Managing Director, The Boston Consulting Group
  • Professor Dr. Marietta Auer, M.A., LL.M., S.J.D., Managing Director, Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory
  • Professor Dr. Regina Back, Managing Director and Member of the Board of Claussen-Simon-Stiftung
  • Professor em. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Katharina Boele-Woelki, former President, Bucerius Law School
  • Professor Dr. Gabriele Britz, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, former Judge of the Federal Constitutional Court
  • Dr. Helene Bubrowski, Table.Media
  • Professor Dr. med. Alena Buyx, Professor of Ethics in Medicine and Health Technologies; Chair, German Ethics Council; Director, Institute for History and Ethics of Medicine / Technical University of Munich, Germany
  • Magdalena Göbel, LL.B., President Bucerius Alumni e.V. and Associate with MANNER SPANGENBERG
  • Professor Manuel J. Hartung, CEO and Chairman, ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS
  • Dr. Andreas C. Hoffmann, LL.M., General Counsel, Siemens AG
  • Dr. Simone Kämpfer, Partner with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
  • Dr. Frank Koch, Partner with Taylor Wessing
  • Elisabeth Kreuzer, Partner with Hengeler Mueller
  • Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Karsten Schmidt, former President, Bucerius Law School
  • Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Wolfgang Schön, Director, Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance, Munich
  • Dr. Norbert Schulte, M.A.L.D. (The Fletcher School), Partner, McDermott Will & Emery
  • Dr. Sven-Holger Undritz, Partner with White & Case LLP

Founding Commission

The Founding Commission advised Bucerius Law School in its initial years.

Members:

  • Dr. Henning Voscherau (†), Chair, former First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Notary, Hamburg
  • Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Horst Albach (†), Bonn
  • Professor Richard M. Buxbaum, University of California, Berkeley
  • Lord Ralf Dahrendorf (†), London
  • Dr. Klaus von Dohnanyi, former First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Hamburg
  • Professor Dr. Manfred Erhardt, General Secretary of the “Stifterverbandes für die Deutsche Wissenschaft”, Essen
  • Professor Dr. Roman Herzog (†), former President of the Federal Republic of Germany
  • Dr. Klaus Landry, Attorney, Hamburg
  • Dr. h.c. Tyll Necker (†), Vice-President of the Federal Association of German Industry (“BDI”), Bad Oldesloe
  • Professor Dr. Hans-Joachim Priester (†), Notary, Hamburg
  • Professor Dr. Karsten Schmidt, Director of the Institute of Commercial and Business Law at the University of Bonn, Member of the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS Advisory Board
  • Dr. Christian Wilde (†), Attorney, Hamburg