From “the land of unlimited opportunities” to “Ami, go home”: hardly any other country evokes so many emotions and polarizes as much as the United States. Germany’s history following World War II is difficult to imagine without the influence of the United States. The exhibition “The American Way. The U.S. in Germany”, open to the public at Zeitgeschichtliches Forum Leipzig from April 2 to October 12, 2014, is dedicated to this special relationship. One example of the transatlantic cultural and educational exchange among the about 1,000 exhibits and media stations will be the Honorary Doctorate Certificate awarded by HHL to Prof. Michael Porter, PhD, a university professor at the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard Business School. In 2008, HHL was the first German university to honor Porter’s accomplishments, therefore underlining its close connection to his work, which is not only taught in strategy and entrepreneurship classes but is also applied in practice within the framework of the regional cluster process in Central Germany.
The influence of the U.S. on research and teaching at HHL, formerly Handelshochschule Leipzig, started with the foundation of the school. When the new College of Commerce building was opened in Leipzig on April 23, 1910, the Head of the University Senate Prof. Dr. Karl Bücher referred to the Wharton School of Finance and Political Economy as well as the University of Chicago, which had sparked a “movement towards expansion and consolidation of commercial training” as early as the 1880s. Speaking of the great obstacles which needed to be overcome before opening the first commercial college in the German-speaking part of Europe and looking to the U.S., Prof. Bücher said, “Today, there is no one in the United States who does not recognize the usefulness of these institutions.”
The first private, state-recognized business school in eastern Germany, HHL received tremendous support from America through Prof. Dr. Gert Assmus, PhD, following its re-establishment in 1992. From 1997 to 2000, Prof. Assmus, who came from the worldwide renowned Tuck School of Business, was the Dean of HHL. Together with American Prof. Dr. Richard Mancke, PhD (long-term Associate Dean and Dean ad interim of Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy) he introduced one of the first full-time American-style MBA programs in Germany in 1998. Today, two out of the three members of HHL’s Scientific Advisory Board are from the United States (from the Tuck School of Business and from Georgetown University). HHL was the first private university in Germany to obtain accreditation from AACSB – Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, a coveted seal of approval, as early as 2004. The leading business schools from the U.S. are included HHL’s over 100 international partner universities worldwide. The annual Summer School entitled “Doing Business in the Enlarged European Union” at HHL stands out in particular amongst the courses offered during the mutual exchange.
Since 2007, HHL has joined forces with Harvard Law School in initiating Europe’s first world championship in negotiating (“The Negotiation Challenge”). The event is modeled on negotiating competitions held at U.S. business and law schools.
Before taking over as HHL Dean, Prof. Dr. Andreas Pinkwart was a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Washington Institute for Comparative German Studies of Johns Hopkins University and published a study there on the roles of universities as entrepreneurial hubs and drivers of innovation in the U.S. and Germany. Marking the 20th anniversary of the “new” HHL, the international conference “Marketing for 21st Century” took place in Leipzig on May 21, 2012. During the event, HHL awarded an honorary doctorate to Prof. Philipp Kotler, among others. Kotler is the Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in the U.S. Being one of the leading experts in the marketing field, he is considered the founder of the modern-day understanding of the subject which underlines a cross-functional foothold of customer orientation and marketing as a leadership philosophy.
The 2012 DAAD Prize for Best Foreign Student, which comes with a monetary prize of EUR 1,000, was awarded to American MBA student Kyle Wilson during the graduation ceremony on September 1, 2012, in the presence of the U.S. Consul General Mark J. Powell.
Kicking off the new annual HHL International Guest Lecture, the then U.S. Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany Philip D. Murphy gave the first lecture entitled “Succeeding in a Globalized World – Remarks from an Ambassador’s Perspective” on September 20, 2012. Murphy’s successor John B. Emerson spoke about communication and leadership at the 2013 HHL Forum “Rethinking Leadership” on November 21, 2013.
HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management is a university-level institution and ranks amongst the leading international business schools. The goal of the oldest business school in German-speaking Europe is to educate effective, responsible and entrepreneurially-minded leaders. HHL stands out for its excellent teaching, its clear research focus, its effective knowledge transfer into practice as well as its outstanding student services. The courses of study include full and part-time Master in Management as well as MBA programs, a Doctoral program and Executive Education. In the Financial Times’ Masters in Management Ranking in 2013 HHL’s full-time M.Sc. Program was ranked number 9 in the world, while the part-time program ranked number 69 worldwide in the Executive MBA Ranking 2013 of the Financial Times. The international media outlet awarded HHL 1st place internationally for its ‘Entrepreneurship’ focus. Just a few months ago, Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft (Founder’s Association for German Science) honored HHL as one of the leading entrepreneurial universities in Germany. HHL is accredited by AACSB International. http://www.hhl.de
HHL gGmbH
Volker Stößel
Jahnallee 59
04109 Leipzig
Deutschland
E-Mail: volker.stoessel@hhl.de
Homepage: http://www.hhl.de
Telefon: 0341-9851-614
Pressekontakt
HHL gGmbH
Volker Stößel
Jahnallee 59
04109 Leipzig
Deutschland
E-Mail: volker.stoessel@hhl.de
Homepage: http://www.hhl.de
Telefon: 0341-9851-614