Hon. Professor Dirk Naumann zu Grünberg studied law and business administration at the Universities of Heidelberg, Geneva and Hamburg. He passed both legal state examinations with honours and has, thereafter, been admitted to the bar in Hamburg. Furthermore, he is a specialist solicitor for administrative law (Fachanwalt für Verwaltungsrecht).

After having worked at university chairs in Heidelberg and Düsseldorf, Dirk Naumann zu Grünberg became a tutor in public law at the University of Hamburg. He coached prospecting lawyers in a private law revision course and served as an advocate in more than 15,000 lawsuits concerning German and European higher education law. Since 2009, he is also General Counsel of the German University Foundation (Deutsche Hochschulstiftung).

Dirk Naumann zu Grünberg is co-editor of the HRZ – Zeitschrift für Hochschul-, Berufs- und Bildungsrecht, a German-speaking law journal focusing on higher education law, and author of numerous articles and other kind of publications in that field.

Dirk Naumann zu Grünberg has couselled various universities in Europe with regard to questions of foundation, accreditation as well as cooperation and franchise agreements. Since 2017, he is Co-Director of the Institute for European and International Higher Education Law and the Management of Sciences.