25 Years of Impact

Thanks to the extraordinary commitment and solidarity of donors and funding partners, the HSG Foundation has been helping students to develop their potential, research and teaching to take place at the highest level, innovative ideas to become reality and "very good" to become "excellent" for 25 years. They not only support the education on offer, but also provide holistic support for personalities who are prepared to take on responsibility and actively shape the future of business and society. 

The anniversary year 2026 is an occasion to look back on what has been achieved and at the same time to look ahead and create something new. The HSG Foundation will continue to act as a reliable partner to support the University of St.Gallen in its vision - supported by a strong HSG community and the shared ambition to make an impact. thank you for your continued support, only in this way can we jointly develop the HSG into Europe's leading university - and turn "very good" into "excellent"! 

With the dynamic development of the University of St.Gallen, the HSG Foundation has also continuously evolved. Under changing names, but with unchanged core objectives, its activities today focus on promoting excellence in research and teaching, supporting lifelong learning and strengthening the HSG's international position. The vision: to establish the University of St.Gallen as Europe's leading business university together with its donors and funding partners.

Since 2001, the HSG Foundation has realized numerous formative milestones. These include the establishment of the Executive Campus with the HSG Alumni House in 2008, the acquisition and expansion of new teaching and learning spaces, which, equipped with a Trading Room and a Behavioral Lab, promote practice-oriented learning at the  HSG. The busy campus bar "Ad Hoc" could also only be built thanks to financial support. 

With donations of CHF 65 million, SQUARE is the largest fundraising project in the history of the HSG - and is fully financed by donations. On February 11, 2022, the modern glass building by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto was ceremoniously opened next to the University Library. Since then, SQUARE has been a beacon project for new forms of teaching and learning and a place for encounters. Equipped with its own directorate, unique in the university sector, SQUARE is characterized by its specially curated programme, which promotes and encourages exchange between students, teaching, art, business and the public.

The Foundation also provides impetus in terms of content: in 2024, the St.Gallen Collegium was secured for three years thanks to donations of CHF 3 million. This makes the HSG the first business university in the world to establish a Collegium. Eight interdisciplinary researchers from all over the world were thus given the opportunity to devote themselves to one of the great social challenges of our time fora year and to develop perspectives and solutions together on site in St.Gallen.

The University of St.Gallen's Strategic Plan 2030 focuses on talent development as a funding priority. in 2024, the HSG Foundation will support the HSG Social Scholarship and the launch of two excellence promotion programs, the "HSG Best Founders Programme" and the "HSG Best Talents Programme". With these scholarship programs, the University of St.Gallen offers comprehensive support for young founders as well as an excellence support program for outstanding international Master's students that is unique in Switzerland, thus strengthening its position in the international context in order to attract the best students. 

through the HSG Foundation, the University of St.Gallen (HSG) received a significant donation of 23.75 million Swiss francs in spring 2026 from AS Holding, the parent company of Kistefos AS owned by HSG alumnus Christen Sveaas. The donation is one of the largest single donations in the 128-year history of the HSG. Of this, CHF 20 million will serve as an anchor donation for the establishment of an endowment fund based on the model of private US universities. The capital is to be invested prudently in the long term by an Investment Committee; the income generated from this will finance HSG projects and initiatives in future without touching and using up the original donation. The Investment Committee is made up of four suitable personalities with extensive experience in asset management, high professional integrity, impartiality and a close connection to the University of St.Gallen.