University of St. Gallen

19th and 20th centuries

In May 1898, the Cantonal Parliament of St. Gallen decided to establish 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 Executive Department of Economic Affairs. In 1899, the business academy started with its lectures, making it one of the first institutions of that kind in the world. From 1911 on, the name Handels-Hochschule was used. In 1938, the former foundation under private law became a public institution and in 1939 it gained the right to award doctoral degrees.

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 already in the winter term of 1963/64, more than 1150 students were enrolled. With the enaction of the higher education act of 1989, the university became the name Hochschule St. Gallen für Wirtschafts-, Rechts- und Sozialwissenschaften, now reflecting the actual subjects covered: Since 1978, the University of St. Gallen had its own law department. Also in 1989, the library building opened and the number of students became more than 3900. In February 1994, the Cantonal Parliament of St. Gallen approved a draft on the revision of the higher education act, leading to a renaming of the institution as Universität St. Gallen (University of St. Gallen). The acronym HSG remained.

Recent history

In winter 2001/02, the University of St. Gallen started the reorganization of its study programs. Education became classified into bachlelor's and master's degrees, making the University of St. Gallen Switzerland's pioneer in the Bologna process.

Mid-2005, people in St. Gallen voted with 66.4% for a construction project to renovate, reorganize, and expand the University of St. Gallen by 2011. With a project budget of about 80m Swiss francs, buildings from the 1960s were renovated and the infrastructure adjusted to the new educational structure. In October 2005, also the newly founded Executive School of Management, Technologie and Law (ES-HSG) opened. The Executive School is financially autonomous and centralizes further educational activities, such as MBA and executive MBA programs.

Campus

The University of St. Gallen is located on top of Rosenberg hill, overlooking the picturesque Altstadt of St. Gallen and the Alps. A remarkable feature is the integration of art and architecture throughout the campus.

In the Main Building, designed by Walter Foerderer and regarded as a significant exemplar of 1960s architecture far beyond Switzerland's borders, art tends to play the role of a counterpart to the architecture, whereas in the Library Building of 1989, the works of art complement the diversity of architectural forms in a narrative fashion. There are works by Burckhardt, Mastroianni, Kemény, Penalba, Arp, Braque, Hajdu, Soniatta, Miró, Calder, Soulages, Giacometti, Tàpies, Coghuf, Valentin, Otto Müller, Stahly, Baier, Bodmer, Oertli, Gehr, Gubler, Prantl, Baumgarten, Disler, Bill, Josef Felix Müller, Paladino, Richter, Fabro, and Cucchi.

The University's attractive location between Lake Constance and the Alps makes St. Gallen an ideal setting for all kinds of leisure activities such as skiing, hiking, or sailing.

In 1995, a convention and executive education center opened a few minutes walk from the main university campus. Extended in 2007, it today comprises several plenary halls as well as 54 business rooms. The University of St. Gallen also maintains international hubs in Singapore and São Paulo to connect local faculty, students, alumni, and companies with academic activities.

Schools, institutes, and research centers

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. A special role plays the Executive School of Management, Technology and Law (ES-HSG) which has the status of an Institut mit besonderen gesamtuniversitären Aufgaben and which runs the MBA and executive education programs.

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 an 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 programs

A new structure of Studies became operational as of winter 2001/2002. Degrees are now divided into Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral programs in accordance with the Bologna Process. Courses at the Bachelor level are typically given in German, while many Master's programs and most Doctoral programs are taught in English. The bachelor's degree programs begin with an Assessment year for all students. 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. Besides the University of St. Gallen only the University of Geneva offers an International Affairs program within Switzerland. The Master's programs cover the same range of studies, but are more specialized. The Masters programs 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, Nanyang Technological University, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Rotterdam School of Management, or Sciences Po Paris.

Bachelor of Arts programs

Master of Arts programs

Doctoral programs

MBA programs and executive education

Student life

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

There are about 80 clubs at the University of St. Gallen. Particularly well-known is the International Students' Committee, an organization which plans and coordinates the annual St. Gallen Symposium. Since 1970 the St. Gallen Symposium brings 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 that provides an international internship program. The largest club at the University of St.Gallen and the largest of its kind in Switzerland is the HSG Investment Club, a finance-focused career club counting over 1,300 members. 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. Also a chapter of Oikos International, a student organization for sustainable development, 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 specializations at the University of St. Gallen as well as fraternities.

The official organization 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 the alumni's lifelong bonds with the University, as well as the networks among its members, by means of numerous events and information platforms.

Rankings

Rankings by the Financial Times (FT)

Rankings by Handelsblatt

Rankings by CHE, published by Die Zeit

Rankings by The Economist:

Rankings by Bloomberg Businessweek:

Rankings by Wall Street Journal:

Ranking by the Mines ParisTech : Professional Ranking World Universities:

Rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds

Alumni

Notable University of St. Gallen alumni in the financial sector include Deutsche Bank Chairman Paul Achleitner, former Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann, Commerzbank CEO Martin Blessing, former Julius Baer Group CEO Alex Widmer, former UBS CEO Peter Wuffli, and Ulrich Körner, current member of the Group Executive Board of UBS.

Business leaders in other sectors who attended the University of St. Gallen include Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek, Jr., IWC CEO Georges Kern, Qiagen CEO Peer M. Schatz, Fresenius SE CEO Ulf Mark Schneider, Thomas Cook Group CEO, Peter Fankhauser, and BASF board member Margret Suckale. 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, Sovereign Monarch and Head of State of Liechtenstein Prince Hans-Adam II, Swiss politician Hans-Rudolf Merz, Swiss politician and Stadler Rail CEO Peter Spuhler, as well as Adrian Hasler, and Klaus Tschütscher, current, and former Prime Minister of Liechtenstein, respectively, Daniel Jositsch, law professor and SP politician.

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, corporate communication professor Miriam Meckel, Walter Hunziker, developer of Tourism Science, and Ota Šik, Professor of Economics and one of the key figures in the Prague Spring.