University of St. Gallen

The University of St. Gallen (HSG) is an elite research university located in St. Gallen, Switzerland, that specialises in business administration, economics, law, international affairs, and computer science.[2] It was established in 1898. It consistently ranks as one of the best business schools in Europe.[3] In 2022, it had 9,590 students, of which 3,757 were master's students and 584 were doctoral students.[4]

University of St. Gallen
Universität St. Gallen
MottoFrom insight to impact
TypePublic
EstablishedMay 25, 1898
BudgetCHF 251.3 million (2019)[1]
PresidentBernhard Ehrenzeller
Academic staff
105 professors (2019)[1]
73 assistant professors (2019)[1]
Administrative staff
3,335
Students9,047 (2020; ♀: 35,7 %)[1]
Undergraduates4,952 (2020)[1]
Postgraduates3,443 (2020)[1]
617 (2020)[1]
Other students
35 (2020)[1]
Location
St. Gallen
,
Canton of St. Gallen
,
Switzerland

47°25′54″N 9°22′29″E
CampusUrban (Rosenberg hill)
NewspapersHSG Focus, Prisma
ColorsGreen, White and Black
     
AffiliationsCEMS, APSIA, EQUIS, AACSB, AMBA, Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs
Websitewww.unisg.ch

Although one of Switzerland's smallest universities, HSG has Switzerland's largest faculty for business administration.[5] It is a member of the CEMS and APSIA and is EQUIS, AACSB and AMBA accredited (triple crown). Its campus is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.[6] The university is owned by the canton of St. Gallen.[7]

History

19th and 20th centuries

In May 1898, the Cantonal Parliament of St. Gallen established an academy for trade, commerce and administration in St. Gallen. The actual founding father is considered to be Theodor Curti, then the head of the Department of Economic Affairs of the Canton of St. Gallen. The business academy commenced lectures in 1899, making it one of the first institutions of its kind in the world. From 1911 onward, the name Handels-Hochschule was used. In 1938, the former foundation under private law became a public institution, and in 1939 gained the right to award doctoral degrees.

The University of St. Gallen in 1963, with art works by Antoni Tàpies

In 1963, the university moved to new buildings and changed its name to Hochschule für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften. The new buildings were planned for 900 students, but by the winter term of 1963/64, more than 1150 students were enrolled. With the enaction of the Higher Education Act of 1989, the university was renamed Hochschule St. Gallen für Wirtschafts-, Rechts- und Sozialwissenschaften to reflect its curricula. The university has had its law department since 1978. In 1989, the library building opened, and enrollment had grown to over 3900. In February 1994, the Cantonal Parliament of St. Gallen approved a bill to amend the Higher Education Act, leading to the renaming of the institution as Universität St. Gallen (University of St. Gallen). The acronym HSG remained.

Recent history

In the winter of 2001/02, the University of St. Gallen started the reorganization of its study programs. Education was classified into bachelor's and master's degrees, making the university Switzerland's pioneer in the Bologna process. In October 2005, the university's Executive School of Management, Technology and Law (ES-HSG) was opened. The financially autonomous Executive School centralizes further educational activities such as MBA and executive MBA programs.

Mid-2005, the people of St. Gallen voted (with 66.4% in favour) to renovate, reorganize and expand the university by 2011. With a budget of about 80m Swiss francs, buildings from the 1960s were renovated, and its infrastructure was updated.

Campus
The University of St. Gallen with the Altstadt of St. Gallen and its Abbey of Saint Gall in the background
Main Building, designed by Walter Förderer, at the time of opening 1963
The convention and executive education center opened in 1995
HSG Learning Center "SQUARE" in October 2021
HSG Learning Center "SQUARE" in October 2021

The University of St. Gallen is located atop Rosenberg Hill, overlooking the Altstadt of St. Gallen, with a view of the Alpstein mountain range. The campus is noted for its integration of art and architecture.[8] The area around the university, including the town of St. Gallen at Lake Constance and the Alps, offers facilities for outdoor activities including skiing, hiking, climbing and sailing.

Giacometti sculpture in the Main Building of the University of St. Gallen

In the Main Building, designed by Walter Foerderer and regarded worldwide as a significant example of 1960s architecture, art is a major feature of the architecture; whereas in the Library Building of 1989, works of art complement the diversity of architectural forms narratively. There are works by Kemény, Penalba,[9] Arp, Braque, Hajdu, Soniatta, Miró, Calder, Soulages, Giacometti, Tàpies, Coghuf, Otto Müller, Disler, Bill, Josef Felix Müller, Paladino, Richter, and Cucchi.

In 1995, a convention and executive education centre opened a few minutes walk from the main campus. Extended in 2007, it now comprises several plenary halls and 54 business rooms.[10] The university also has international hubs in Singapore and São Paulo to connect local faculty, students, alumni and companies with its academic activities.[11]

In 2019, the voters of the canton of St. Gallen approved the construction of an additional campus in the city. The new campus will create room for 3,000 additional students and will be opened in 2027.[12]

In February 2022, the new HSG Learning Center "SQUARE" will open on the Rosenberg. It is intended to be an innovative place for thinking and working, enabling new types of learning and interaction between students, faculty and people from the field. The project is being realised by the HSG Foundation and financed entirely through donations. Over 800 donors have supported the HSG Learning Center to date. The project "Open Grid - Choices of Tomorrow" by Sou Fujimoto Architects won the architecture competition in 2018.

Academics

Schools, institutes, and research centres
The Central Institute Building, designed by Herzog & de Meuron
The Institute of European and International Business Law

Following a restructuring in 2011, there are five schools at the University of St. Gallen: the School of Management (SoM-HSG), the School of Finance (SoF-HSG), the Law School (LS-HSG), the School of Economics and Political Science (SEPS-HSG), and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS-HSG). Study programs are typically associated with a specific school but are taught jointly by faculty members from several schools. The Executive School of Management, Technology and Law (ES-HSG) plays a special role which has the status of an Institut mit besonderen gesamtuniversitären Aufgaben and which runs the MBA and executive education programs.[13]

The crystallization points of research at the University of St. Gallen are about 40 institutes and research centres, which are an integral part of the university. The directors of the institutes double as professors of the University of St. Gallen. Bringing theory and practice together, the institutes provide important input for teaching at the university and play a significant role in furthering the careers of young academics. 80 tenured professors, 60 assistant professors and senior lecturers, and more than 300 lecturers and 300 assistants, plus distinguished visiting professors cultivate the scientific discourse with the students.

The University of St. Gallen is a member of the European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS) and the Auto-ID Labs network.

Study programmes

A new structure of Studies became operational as of winter 2001/2002. Degrees are now divided into Bachelor, Master, and Doctoral programmes under the Bologna Process. Courses at the Bachelor level are typically taught in German, while many Master's programmes and most Doctoral programmes are taught in English. Since 2013, the bachelor's degree programmes have started with an assessment year for all students. The assessment year was introduced in two separate tracks (German/English) to improve the teacher/student ratio.[14]

Upon successful completion of this year, students can then choose one of five majors for their remaining two years of study as listed below. The majority of Bachelor students are enrolled in Business Administration. Aside from the University of St. Gallen, only the University of Geneva offers an International Affairs programme within Switzerland. The Master's programmes cover the same range of studies but are more specialised. The Master's programmes typically run from 1.5 to 2 years. Besides the CEMS Master's in International Management, further double degrees may be obtained in cooperation with partner universities such as Bocconi University, ESADE, HEC Paris, INCAE Business School, Nanyang Technological University, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Rotterdam School of Management, or Sciences Po Paris.[15][16]

Rankings
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
FT – European Business School[17] 5th 4th 4th 4th 7th 6th 5th[18]
FT – Master in Management (HSG Program)[19][20] 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st
The Economist – Master in Management[21] - 5th - 2nd -
FT – Master in Management (CEMS Program)[19] N/A* 9th 9th 8th 13th
FT – Master in Finance[19] 8th 10th 6th 6th
FT – Master of Business Administration (MBA)[19] 60th 59th 60th 69th 68th 64th
The Economist – Master of Business Administration (MBA)[22] - - - 92nd - 53rd
FT – Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA)[19] 46th 45th 55th 44th 47th
FT – Executive Education – Open[19] 38th 28th 28th 24th 26th

*In 2016, CEMS refused to take part in the yearly FT Ranking. The programme made its comeback in 2017 at the 9th place.

Student life
Opening panel of HSG Talents, a recruiting initiative run by students

The University of St. Gallen hosts 25% international students, an upper limit which has been fixed by the government.[23]

There are about 80 clubs at the University of St. Gallen. Particularly well-known is the International Students' Committee, an organisation which plans and coordinates the annual St. Gallen Symposium. Since 1970, the St. Gallen Symposium has brought together leaders from business, science, politics and society with students from all over the world. AIESEC St. Gallen is a club that was founded in 1951 and provides an international internship programme. The largest club at the University of St. Gallen and the largest of its kind in Switzerland is the Helvetian Investment Club, a finance-focused career club with over 1,450 members.[24] One of the largest clubs with more than 600 members is DocNet, the doctoral students' club at the University of St. Gallen.

Founded in 2001, a major event of DocNet is the annual DocNet Management Symposium. A chapter of Oikos International, a student organisation for sustainable development, also plays an active role at the University of St. Gallen. Other clubs are mostly sports clubs, cultural clubs or associations of students of different countries or cantons, subject-specific clubs related to specialisations at the University of St. Gallen as well as fraternities.[25]

The official organisation of former students of the University of St. Gallen is HSG Alumni. With more than 19,000 members and 80 alumni clubs on 4 continents, it is one of Europe's leading associations of its kind. Since 1930, the club has been reinforcing alumni's lifelong bonds with the university, as well as the networks among its members, utilising numerous events and information platforms.[26]

Notable people
Main article: List of University of St. Gallen people

Alumni
Josef Ackermann graduated from the University of St. Gallen with a doctoral degree in economics in 1977

Notable the University of St. Gallen alumni in the financial sector include Deutsche Bank Chairman Paul Achleitner,[27] former Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann,[28] former Commerzbank CEO Martin Blessing,[29] Founder & CEO of wefox Julian Teicke,[30] Swiss Re Honorary Chairman Walter Kielholz,[31] former Julius Baer Group CEO Alex Widmer,[32] former UBS CEO Peter Wuffli,[33] current N26 CEO and founder Valentin Stalf. Business leaders in other sectors who attended the University of St. Gallen include Daimler AG CEO Ola Källenius, Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek, Jr.,[34] IWC CEO Georges Kern,[35] Qiagen CEO Peer M. Schatz,[36] former Fresenius SE CEO and Nestlé CEO Ulf Mark Schneider,[37][38][39] Thomas Cook Group CEO, Peter Fankhauser,[40] and BASF board member Margret Suckale.[41] In the intellectual space, notable alumni include novelist and bestselling author Rolf Dobelli. In the field of law and politics, notable alumni include Swiss politician and former President of the Swiss Council of States Christoffel Brändli,[42] Sovereign Monarch and Head of State of Liechtenstein Prince Hans-Adam II,[43] Swiss politician Hans-Rudolf Merz,[44] Swiss politician and Stadler Rail CEO Peter Spuhler,[45] Swiss politician Heinz Indermaur, as well as Adrian Hasler Prime Minister of Liechtenstein, and Klaus Tschütscher, former Prime Minister of Liechtenstein.[46]

Faculty and staff

Notable current or former faculty members of the University of St. Gallen include the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union Juliane Kokott,[47] corporate communication professor Miriam Meckel,[48] art director Sir Peter Jonas, Walter Hunziker, developer of Tourism Science, and Ota Šik, Professor of Economics and one of the key figures in the Prague Spring.[49]

Controversies

Following a 2019 investigation by the cantonal audit office, the University of St. Gallen came under heavy criticism for the frivolous spending behaviour in some of its institutes. Representatives of the cantonal legislature called for a change in the university's culture of accountability.[50]

In 2021, a professor at the University of St. Gallen ended her supervisor agreement with a temporarily deregistered doctorate student and had the university delete his email account, for making a negative comment on Twitter about China's communication during the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis.[51]

Partner universities

University of St. Gallen has partnership agreements and cooperations with various universities, including the following:[52]

See also

Bibliography
  • Boller, Gabrielle (1998). Kunst und Architektur im Dialog: Universität St. Gallen (in German). Benteli. ISBN 3-71651-076-9.
  • Burmeister, Karl Heinz (1998). 100 Jahre HSG: Geschichte der Universität St. Gallen, Hochschule für Wirtschafts-, Rechts- und Sozialwissenschaften (in German). Bern: Stämpfli. ISBN 3-72729-248-2.

References
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  1. "Members" (in German, French, Italian, and English). Berne, Switzerland: swissuniversities. 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
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