After nine years as Chief Executive Officer of the St. Gallen Foundation for International Studies, Philip Erzinger has decided to step down and leave the organisation at the End of March 2017 in order to take up a new role.
In a statement, Chairman Peter Voser said: “Today, I would like to extend my warmest, heartfelt thanks to Mr Erzinger for his exceptional performance and his tremendous commitment to the St. Gallen Foundation for International Studies and the St. Gallen Symposium during the past nine years. As he moves into the next phase of his career, I wish him all the best for his professional and personal development.”
Following an orderly selection process, the St. Gallen Foundation for International Studies has appointed Beat Ulrich as Chief Executive Officer, effective 1 July 2017. Ulrich will lead the strategic development of the St. Gallen Foundation for International Studies as well as the St. Gallen Symposium.
Since 2003, Ulrich has been Head and Delegate of Business Location St. Gallen Switzerland, fostering the St. Gallen Bodensee Area as the leading location in Switzerland and Europe for Precision Technologies, ICT and Centralized Corporate Management functions. Ulrich is an alumnus of the University of St. Gallen.
Peter Voser said: “On behalf of the entire Foundation Board, I am looking forward to working with Mr Ulrich to foster the almost 50-year success story of the St. Gallen Symposium and to implement the necessary strategic changes to prepare our organisation for the next 50 years to come.”
Until 1 July 2017, the organisation is headed by Dominic Baumann, who has been with the organisation in changing roles since 2006 and was named its Chief Operating Officer in 2016.
Ensuring strategic continuity
The St. Gallen Foundation for International Studies (SSIS) was founded in 1974, four years after the first St. Gallen Symposium, as the student team recognised it needed long-term guidance and oversight if the initiative were to survive. The foundation’s Board is presided by Peter Voser.
The foundation selects and coaches the International Students’ Committee (ISC) in the planning and organisation of the St. Gallen Symposium, develops the thematic framework and helps the student team select and invite speakers and assemble the programme.
A world-class, student-run forum
The St. Gallen Symposium is a student-run global forum that has been creating healthy debates on relevant topics for nearly 50 years – between generations, disciplines and cultures. In 2017, the 47th St. Gallen Symposium will be held at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, one of the world’s leading business schools. In the past, global luminaries such as Tony Tan, President of Singapore, Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Professor Niall Ferguson, Harvard University, Christine Lagarde, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Jack Ma, Alibaba Group, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO, and Stephen Sackur, BBC Television Centre have contributed to the “St. Gallen debates”.
