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Alumnus Dr Magnus Brunner, Austria's Minister of Finance, visits the School of Law

Alexis Beaumont

Alumni and Stakeholder Engagement Manager

04 March 2022

On Wednesday 9 February, the School of Law was delighted to host esteemed alumnus Dr Magnus Brunner during his visit to Strand campus.

After graduating from King’s in 1998 with a Master of Laws, Dr Brunner pursued a career in politics and has served as Austria's Minister of Finance since December last year.

Minister Brunner took time out from an official visit to London, during which he met with Chancellor Rishi Sunak and visited the London Stock Exchange.

During his tour of the School, the Minister met with current students and staff.

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It was an absolute honour to meet Minister Brunner (virtually). We had the unique opportunity to hear his views on Austria’s political stance on current issues and how these directly tie in with the concepts we are studying in our LLM in International Financial Law. To learn he obtained his Master of Laws at King’s demonstrates to us, once again, how prestigious this degree truly is and the ability that it has to prepare us for a successful career in the future.– Julia Jeker, student, LLM International Financial Law

The Minister started his tour by meeting his former postgraduate supervisor, Professor Andrea Biondi, and his former lecturer, Professor Richard Whish, to share some memories and discuss life after King’s.

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It was great to meet Dr Brunner after more than twenty years and talk about the old law school and how much King's has changed. And before you ask, yes he was an excellent student!– Professor Andrea Biondi, Co-Director, Centre of European Law

The Minister then met Professor Alexander Türk, Interim Executive Dean, and Dr Christoph Kletzer, Interim Vice Dean for International and External Relations, to discuss ways to strengthen the relationship between the School and activities in Austria, including our alumni engagement.

The highlight of Minister Brunner’s visit was having the chance to meet with over 100 of our postgraduate students virtually, to present on the concept of Green Finance and its importance in defining sustainable financial market growth for future years.

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It was a great pleasure to see how much this distinguished alumnus of ours enjoyed coming back to King’s and how his face lit up when he spoke about his time here. It is wonderful to see first hand that our efforts have contributed to such a great career. – Dr Christoph Kletzer, Interim Vice Dean for International and External Relations

The Masters students on the International Financial Law pathway really benefitted from the session, and the insights provided by an alumnus working in the international financial world. They were grateful to have made such a valuable connection ahead of completing their course.