All the members of the HSG President’s Board for 2020 to 2022 appointed

17 May 2019. The term of office of the present President’s Board will come to an end on 31 January 2020. President Thomas Bieger, Vice-President Kuno Schedler and Vice-President Lukas Gschwend will leave office. The appointment of Prof. Dr. Bernhard Ehrenzeller as the future President was approved by the Government of the Canton of St.Gallen as early as January 2019. The Vice-President Peter Leibfried (at present: Vice-President, Planning & Development; in future: Vice-President, Academic Affairs) and Ulrich Schmid (Vice-President, External Relations) have already been in office since 1 February 2019.

The newly appointed Vice-Presidents for the coming term of office from 1 February 2020 to 31 January 2022 are Prof. Dr. Monika Bütler and Prof. Dr. Thomas Zellweger. Monika Bütler will be responsible for Institutes & Executive Education, and Thomas Zellweger for Research.

According to the University Act and the University Statutes, the Vice-Presidents are appointed from the body of the HSG’s full professors. The Vice-Presidents’ function consists in supporting the President in the fulfilment of his or her tasks by taking on specific fields of responsibility. They are appointed by the University’s Board of Governors on application by the Senate, and this appointment is subject to approval by the Cantonal Government. Like all academic organs, the members of the President’s Board are appointed for a term of office of two years.

The newly constituted President’s Board will take up office on 1 February 2020. The curricula vitæ of the four Vice-Presidents can be found below.

Vice-President, Institutes & Executive Education: Monika Bütler

After obtaining a degree in mathematics and physics from the University of Zurich, and after professional activities in this field, Monika Bütler studied economics at the HSG and was awarded her Doctor’s degree in 1997. From 1997-2001, she worked as an assistant professor at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. From 2001-2004, she taught and conducted research as Full Professor of Public Finance at the University of Lausanne. In 2004, Monika Bütler was appointed Full Professor of Economics at the HSG. Her research focuses on social insurance schemes, the labour market and political economics. In 2018, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Lucerne.

Monika Bütler is involved in the self-administration of the University of St.Gallen. Thus she was Dean of the School of Economics and Political Science (SEPS) in the term of office from 1 August 2009 to 31 July 2013. Since 2008, she has been the Director of the Swiss Institute for Empirical Economic Research (SEW-HSG), which she also co-founded. She is a member of various bodies of the University.

Vice-President, Research: Thomas Zellweger

Thomas Zellweger concluded his studies in economic sciences at the University of St.Gallen in 2000. From 2000 to 2002, he was Marketing Director of Derivative, Brussels, a start-up in the field of financial technology. In 2006, he obtained his Doctor’s degree from the University of St.Gallen with the distinction of summa cum laude. He has been Full Professor of Management since 2011, with his research focusing on family business and entrepreneurship.

Prof. Dr. Thomas Zellweger is actively involved in the University of St.Gallen in a variety of ways. Together with his colleagues, he runs the Swiss Research Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (KMU-HSG), as well as the Center for Family Business (CFB-HSG), which he co-founded in 2007. He is also the Academic Director of the Global Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the HSG (GCEI-HSG). He teaches in the Assessment Year, at the Master’s and PhD Levels and in Executive Education at the HSG. His research work has been published in leading management journals and has been awarded international prizes several times. His research work is debated in the international media.

Vice-President, Teaching: Peter Leibfried

Peter Leibfried concluded his studies in economic sciences with the degree of Diplom-Ökonom at the University of Hohenheim in 1996. In 2002, the University of St.Gallen awarded him a Doctor’s degree. Since 2005, he has been Professor of Audit and Accounting at the University of St.Gallen, and Full Professor since 2011.

Prof. Dr. Peter Leibfried was Dean of the School of Management (SoM-HSG) from 1 February 2015 to 31 January 2017. Since l January 2006, he has been a Director of the Institute of Accounting, Control and Auditing (ACA-HSG), with ten years as Managing Director.  Since February 2012, he has been the Academic Director of the Master’s programme in Accounting and Finance (MAccFin). He has been Vice-President for Planning & Development since 1 February 2019.

Vice-President, External Relations: Ulrich Schmid

Ulrich Schmid concluded his studies in literature and political science at the University of Zurich in 1991. He obtained a Doctor’s degree from the University of Basel in 1995 and was habilitated in 1999. In 2005, he was appointed Full Professor of Slavic Studies at Ruhr-Universität Bochum. He has been Professor of Russian Culture and Society at the University of St.Gallen since 2007. He is a regular contributor to the culture section of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

From 2010 to 2014, he was Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS-HSG). Subsequently, he and Prof. Dr. Caspar Hirschi conducted the reform of Contextual Studies. He has been Vice-President for External Relations since 1 February 2019.

Photo: From left to right: Ulrich Schmid, Thomas Zellweger, Monika Bütler, Bernhard Ehrenzeller and Peter Leibfried.