Thomas Bieger was born in Basel on 26 April 1961.
After completing his school education with a Matura qualification, Bieger began studying economics at the University of Basel in 1980. During his studies he worked part-time for the consumer goods marketing company Doetsch Grether AG in Basel and as a skiing and sailing instructor in the Engadine. Between 1983 and 1985, Bieger was an assistant manager at the Basel Tourist Office.
In 1987 Thomas Bieger published his doctoral thesis Freie Wirtschaftszone Basel - ein neues Instrument der regionalen Wirtschaftsförderung (Basel, the free economic area – an new in-strument of promoting regional economy).
From 1985 to 1991 he taught at the HWV Lucerne (today: HSLU), and from 1988 on he was part of the school management.
In 1991, he was appointed as a director of the Samedan middle school and tourism college. In 1992, Bieger was involved in the establishment of the Higher Technical School for Tourism Graubünden. From 1993 he taught business administration at the HTW Chur (today: FH Graubünden). Bieger also taught at the University of Innsbruck in 1996.
In 1997, Thomas Bieger was appointed Associate Professor of Business Administration with special emphasis on tourism economics at HSG and accepted a position of Director of the Institute for Public Services and Tourism (today: Institute for Systemic Management and Public Governance IMP-HSG). In 1999, he was promoted to Full Professor. He also accepted guest professorships, e.g. at the University of Innsbruck and the Vienna University of Eco-nomics and Business.
Between 2011 and 2020, Thomas Bieger served as President of the University of St.Gallen. During his time in office, the university moved up from 16th to 4th place among the best European business schools in the international ranking of the "Financial Times". Bieger was committed to the idea of the university being more embedded in the region as a strong and consistent contributor to both economy and communities, but he considered university’s further global expansion just as important.
Bieger is a member of various boards of directors for companies such as Appenzeller Bah-nen, Roland Berger International Consultants, Alpine Classic Hotels and Migros Ostschweiz.
He is married and a father of two children. Bieger is a passionate sailor and enjoys going on ski tours. His preferred way of getting around St.Gallen is by bicycle.
2011: St.Gallen Institute for Management in Asia (GIMA-HSG).
2016: St.Gallen Institute for Management in Latin America (GIMLA-HSG).
2018: Institute of Computer Science (ICS-HSG)