Alfred Kölz went to school at the high school in the city of Solothurn. After his matura, he began to study chemical engineering at the Swiss Institute of Technology. After two semesters, he changed to law at the Universities of Zurich and Berne. In 1973 he received his doctoral degree with a thesis “Prozessmaximen im Schweizerischen Verwaltungsrecht”.
In 1978 he was habilitated in the areas of cantonal law of the Canton of Zurich and aministrative law. In 1979 Kölz was named to a chair in Staatsrecht, Verwaltungsrecht and Verfassungsgeschichte (administrative law, constitutional law and constitutional history) at the University of Zurich. From 1996 to 1999 he was Dean of the Law Faculty.
Besides his articles on governmental and administrative law, Kölz was particularly known for his seminal history of the Swiss constitutional law (neuere Schweizerische Verfassungsgeschichte), of which the first volume appeared in 1992. In 1994 he wrote together with Prof. Jürg Paul Müller a draft for a new Swiss constitution. He had major interests in political rights and in environmental protection.
Kölz died in May 2003. The 2nd vol. of the constitutional history (neuere Schweizerische Verfassungsgeschichte) was published posthumously by collaborators and colleagues (Neuere Verfassungsgeschichte, ihre Grundlinien in Bund und Kantonen seit 1848, Bern 2004).
Further biographical references: https://de.wikipedia.org