In a short lecture titled ‘Diversity Stories of a Legal Scholar’, Professor Michael Grünberger, President of Bucerius Law School, will share insights into his personal experience as a first-generation academic. Having grown up in modest circumstances as the child of a single mother on a small farm in South Tyrol, he knows from personal experience how crucial equal opportunities are for academic achievement. That is precisely why he is now committed to ensuring that everyone has access to excellent education—regardless of their background, gender, sexual orientation, or class.
Through the lens of educational sociology, Professor Grünberger will reflect on his own diversity stories—exploring where exclusion mechanisms operate, what facilitated his advancement, and what hindered it. He will also highlight how privileged his journey still was, despite the challenges. Rather than offering a detached analysis, he will speak deliberately from a diversity perspective first, and then—as the same person—take on the university leadership perspective. After all, educational advancement is always more than just an individual success story. His lecture invites us to understand how personal experience and institutional responsibility are inseparably connected when it comes to creating genuine equal opportunities in higher education.
The lecture will be followed by a moderated roundtable discussion with all participating researchers from Max Planck Law. This protected space will allow for open dialogue, questions, and the sharing of personal experiences, offering a valuable opportunity to reflect together on the challenges and possibilities of building a more diverse and inclusive academic community.
This event is aimed at anyone interested in topics such as equal opportunities, diversity, and the personal stories behind academic excellence.
Please register for this event via the registration portal of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg.
We look forward to welcoming you, online or in person at MPI Hamburg!