More than 150 advisory board members promote the practical relevance of HSG institutes

Since 1 January 2025, the institutes have been under the supervision of the president of the University of St.Gallen (HSG). The managing committees of the institutes have therefore been dissolved. Now the 36 institutes at HSG have advisory boards to provide them with expert advice. Recently, President Prof. Dr. Manuel Ammann and Prof. Dr. Reto Föllmi, vice president Institutes and Executive Education, thanked all members of these advisory boards for their valuable commitment. This commitment cannot be taken for granted, especially since the members are renowned personalities from academia, business, politics and public institutions.

Personalities from business, science and politics

 Among the advisory board members, there are many familiar names that may also be known to an interested public. For the entrepreneurially run HSG institutes, proximity to business and industry is a decisive success factor. Consequently, the proportion of management personalities is high. They include Jens Breu (CEO SFS Group AG), Vincent Ducrot (CEO SBB), Antja Kanngiesser (CEO Alpiq), Michèle Rodoni (CEO Mobiliar), Fabian Ruprecht (CEO Helvetia), Christian Schmid (CEO SGKB) and André Wyss (CEO Implenia Group). But science is not neglected either. In a complex world, the big challenges increasingly require an interdisciplinary approach in order to find viable solutions. HSG is therefore grateful that leading international scientists also advise their institutes. Prof. Dr. Zheng Han (Tongji University), Prof. Dr. Andrew Hoffman (University of Michigan), Prof. Dr. Dirk Ifenthaler (University of Mannheim), Prof. Dr. Tina Kiefer (Warwick Business School), Prof. Dr. Stefano Puntoni (The Wharton School) and Prof. Dr. Laura Spence (King's College London). Last but not least, politics is prominently and widely represented, for example by Andrea Caroni (Council of States, Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden), Simon Michel (National Council, Canton of Solothurn), Philipp Rösler, former German Vice Chancellor, Franziska Ryser (National Council, Canton of St. Gallen) and Martin Schmid (Council of States, Canton of Glarus). 

New perspectives

The advisory boards contribute their valuable perspectives and advise the institutes in the areas of research, teaching, executive education and transfer. This is of great importance for HSG, which generates a large proportion of its financial resources itself, namely close to 50 per cent. Therefore, it is essential that HSG institutes provide services that are in demand on the market in the above-mentioned fields of activity. “Fresh ideas” that the advisory boards bring by sharing their expertise, providing important impetus and questioning the status quo are therefore very welcome. In this way, they help to ensure that the familiar is questioned and innovations are created – for the benefit of the Swiss economy and society.