A Role Model for Demonstrating Values in Science, Transfer, and Society

After completing an apprenticeship as an industrial management assistant at Siemens and its German subsidiary, the Deutsche Grammophon record label, Hans Jobst Pleitner went on to study business administration at the University of Munster and the St. Gallen Graduate School of Commerce, now part of the University of St. Gallen (HSG). Deciding on an academic career path, he stayed at St. Gallen and was awarded his doctorate in 1972, becoming an adjunct professor at the university that same year. Three years later, he became director of the Institute for Industry (IGW), now the Swiss Research Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship at the University of St. Gallen (KMU-HSG). At the age of 45 he wrote his habilitation thesis. From 1985 to 2000, he served as a tenured professor of general business administration with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) at the University of St. Gallen.

Hans Jobst Pleitner made significant contributions to the establishment of Steinbeis University Berlin (SHB). As director of the IGW, he opened doors for the founding of the St. Gallen Management Seminar in Germany, which was one of the key academic programs at SHB. He also actively supported and influenced the development of SHB’s first programs of study. All of this was achieved thanks to his cooperation with Steinbeis, a very unusual course of action at the time. After receiving the status of professor emeritus at the University of St. Gallen in 2000, he became a professor for entrepreneurial management at SHB.