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Professor König to be the new President of Bucerius Law School

On April 17, 2012, the Board of Trustees of Bucerius Law School elected Dr. Doris König, M.C.L., as the new president of Bucerius Law School. As of October 1, 2012, Professor König has taken over for Dr. Dres. h. c. Karsten Schmidt, who held the presidency for the past eight years.

Professor König previously held the Chair of Public Law, General Administrative Law, International and European Law at Bucerius Law School. As president, she will head the newly created “Claussen-Simon-Stiftung” Chair of International Law.

Following the First Legal State Examination, she received a Master of Comparative Law (M.C.L.) from the University of Miami School of Law. After the Second Legal State Examination, she was employed as a research assistant at the University of Kiel’s Institute for International Law, where she earned a doctoral degree in international maritime law.

From 1989 to 1992, she served as a judge for the District Court of Hamburg before returning to the Walther-Schücking-Institute for International Law in Kiel as a research assistant. In 1998 she finished her postdoctoral thesis (Habilitation) on the constitutional problems of European integration to receive the qualification to work as a professor in the field of “public law, including general administrative law, international and European law.”

Before her appointment in 2000 as a professor at the newly-founded Bucerius Law School, she worked as an interim professor at various chairs in Saarbrücken, Halle (Saale) and Kiel.

Upon her election as university president, Professor König expressed gratitude for the confidence bestowed upon her. “My goal is to continue the success of Bucerius Law School, while – in the spirit of Gerd Bucerius – being a driving force for innovation and the advancement of legal education,” Professor König said. She thanked Karsten Schmidt for his achievements as president and for his immense personal commitment to the university. After the hand-over of the presidency in October 2012, Professor Karsten Schmidt will continue to research and lecture for his Chair for Business and Corporate Law.

Dr. Henning Voscherau, the chairman of the Board of Directors at the Bucerius Law School and former First Mayor of the City of Hamburg, commented, “Professor König is an exceptional choice as president of Bucerius Law School. She is an internationally-recognized researcher and mastermind in her areas of expertise – the law of European integration and international maritime and environmental law. She is extremely involved in the university, contributing to its excellence in research and commitment to teaching. As a founding member of the university, she possesses a special understanding and grasp for its interests. This is reflected in her approval among professors, students and university staff.”