Research - 06.11.2026 - 09:00
The Claudine and Hans-Heiner Zaeslin-Bustany Foundation and the HSG Foundation have signed an agreement to fund an associate professorship in American Studies at HSG. The grant of 3.1 million Swiss francs will be paid to the University in equal instalments over a period of ten years. This external funding will enable the financing of a full-time (100%) associate professorship, including a PhD post. “We would like to express our sincere thanks to the Claudine and Hans-Heiner Zaeslin-Bustany Foundation for its generous support of American Studies at HSG, which fits perfectly with our new profile-defining key focus areas,” said President Prof. Manuel Ammann.
In line with the Claudine and Hans-Heiner Zaeslin-Bustany Foundation’s purpose, the appointment is intended to strengthen transatlantic relations by promoting mutual understanding of continental European and Anglo-Saxon ways of thinking and by helping to bridge existing differences between the various mentalities. This is also reflected in the name of the professorship: “Zaeslin-Bustany Professorship in Transatlantic Relations”. Among other things, the Foundation supports institutions and projects in the field of higher education and fosters contacts between Swiss and American universities, particularly in the fields of economics, legal studies and management.
One of HSG’s strengths lies in operating at the intersection of precisely these disciplines and bringing together academia, business, politics and society. Furthermore, with its established American Studies programme and its network of 28 partner universities in the USA, it can draw on valuable experience and contacts. This makes HSG the ideal partner for the Foundation. “America is undergoing change, both in its self-perception and in its relations with the world. This will also affect Switzerland, and it would therefore be good for Switzerland to follow these developments closely. For America remains vital to us,” says Dr. Rolf Soiron, chair of the Foundation Board.
HSG recently defined “Leadership and Competitiveness in an Increasingly Fragmented Geopolitical World” as one of three key focus areas. Transatlantic relations play a central role for Switzerland and Europe in this context. However, for decades HSG has offered a range of courses on US law, economics, culture and history, as well as transatlantic relations. It also maintains contact with organisations based in the US through numerous lectures, collaborations and partnerships. American academics, ambassadors and other political figures have repeatedly been guests on campus. In 2009, a former US President, Bill Clinton, even visited the campus for the opening of the Centre for Disability and Integration (CDI-HSG).
