Zunz was born to a Jewish family[2] December 25, 1923 in Mönchengladbach, Germany, but at the age of 13 he moved to South Africa.
[4] After interrupting his studies to serve with the South African Army[5] in Egypt and Italy in the Second World War, he graduated in civil engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in 1948.
He worked for a consultant and structural steelwork fabricator, before coming to London to join Ove Arup in 1950.
In 1954, he returned to South Africa and together with Michael Lewis established an office for Arup.
He was centrally involved in developing the technical skills of the firm, in increasing its geographical spread as well as creating a framework for an increasing number of talented engineers and allied professionals to develop their skills and their careers.