Professor Dr. Christian Rolfs, born in Düsseldorf in 1966, has been working at the University of Cologne since April 2009.

He passed his first state examination in law in Mainz in 1990 and his second in Düsseldorf in 1993. His dissertation "Die Haftung unter Arbeitskollegen" (Liability among Work Colleagues), supervised by Peter Hanau (Cologne), was published in 1994, and his habilitation thesis "Das Versicherungsprinzip im Sozialversicherungsrecht" (The Insurance Principle in Social Security Law), supervised by Ulrich Preis (at the time FernUni Hagen), was published in 1999.

From 2001 to 2009, Christian Rolfs held the Chair of Civil Law, Labor and Social Law and Insurance Law at Bielefeld University. From 2006 to 2008, he was Dean of the Faculty of Law there. Having turned down an offer from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, he moved to Cologne in the summer term of 2009. There, he initially took over as head of the Institute for Insurance Law, and since 2022 has been head of the Institute for German and European Labor and Social Law.

His research focuses on private law, labor and social law, and private insurance law. Particular mention should be made of occupational pension law, tenancy law, the law governing termination of employment and fixed-term employment contracts, social security and employment promotion law, and life insurance.Particularly noteworthy are the law of occupational pensions, tenancy law, termination law and the law of fixed-term employment relationships, social insurance and employment promotion law as well as legal aspects of life insurances.

Joachim Hennrichs studied law at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz from 1985 to 1990. He received his doctorate there in 1994 under Walther Hadding with a thesis on transformation law. He passed his second state examination in Koblenz in the same year. Also in Mainz, he earned his venia legendi in 1998. His habilitation thesis deals with the accounting law of corporations.  

From 2000 to 2003, he held a chair in private law and banking law at the law faculty of the Westphalian Wilhelms University in Münster. In 2003, he moved to the University of Cologne. Here he holds the Chair of Civil Law, Accounting and Tax Law and is Director of the Institute for Corporate Law.

Joachim Hennrichs is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board at the Federal Ministry of Finance, Chairman of the Working Group on Accounting Law University Teachers of Law and a member of numerous other scientific working groups and advisory boards. His research focuses on corporate and accounting law as well as corporate tax law. He is married and has two daughters.

Johanna Hey studied law at the University of Würzburg. Legal clerkship at the Higher Regional Court of Cologne. Doctorate in 1996, habilitation in 2001. From 2002 to 2006, she held the Chair of Corporate Tax Law at the University of Düsseldorf, since 2006 she has headed the Cologne Institute for Tax Law. 

From 2004 to 2012, member of the Executive Committee and 1st Vice President of the German Association of University Professors and Lecturers. Since 2006, member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Federal Ministry of Finance. Since 2008, editor with overall responsibility for Herrmann/Heuer/Raupach. Member of the Permanent Deputation of the Association of German Jurists since 2010. From 2010 to 2021 Scientific Director of the Institute of Finance and Taxation. From 2011 to 2020 Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW). 2021 to 2023 Vice Rector for International Affairs at the University of Cologne. Managing editor of Steuer und Wirtschaft since 2015. Winner of the Hans Kelsen Prize 2015 of the University of Cologne (→ Video). Member of the North Rhine-Westphalia Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts since 2020. Since 2023 Chairwoman of the Berliner Steuergespräche e.V. and Chairwoman of the Deutsche Steuerjuristische Gesellschaft e.V., where she was Chairwoman of the Academic Advisory Board from 2011 to 2016.

Martin Paul Waßmer studied law, economics and administration in Heidelberg, Lausanne and Speyer. He received his doctorate from the law faculty of the Ruprecht Karls University of Heidelberg in 1996 with a thesis on breach of trust in risky transactions. In 2006, he completed his habilitation at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg with a thesis on the liability of principals under criminal law. After holding professorships in Osnabrück, Bayreuth and Berlin (FU), he was appointed to the University of Cologne in 2009. There he holds a chair in criminal law and criminal procedure law and is co-director of the Institute for Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law. In April 2019, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Georgia (Tbilisi).

Martin Paul Waßmer is active in numerous scientific associations and working groups. He is a member of the selection committee of the German National Academic Foundation. His research focuses on economic, corporate, medical and criminal law relating to foreigners, including European and international references. He is married and has four children.