A chair refers to a subject taught by a full professor in the context of his/her employment at the university. The term describes the combination of a subject area with the position of a full professor. If a chair is unoccupied (vacant), for example as the result of a departure or the retirement of the holder, the post will be refilled by means of a competitive procedure – a so-called appointment – or through promotion. The University Council may, at the request of the school, approve a substitute chairholder.

There are currently 98 chairs at the University of St.Gallen (HSG). Each chair is affiliated to one of the five schools. The School of Management currently has the largest number of chairs. Employees of a chairholder are faculty staff.

Chairs are generally financed by public basic funding. The Swiss Universities Act allows the University of St.Gallen to finance itself in addition to public basic funding and tuition fees. For this reason, chairs can also be financed by external means such as companies, foundations or individuals. However, the rules for such cooperation are determined by the university. In particular, the freedom of academic research and teaching must not be impaired. The funding should also be in line with the HSG strategy. One important condition for funding a chair is that it is the chair that is financed and not an individual. The selection procedure for filling the chair takes place according to the university’s guidelines.

The following seven chairs are funded at HSG:

• Chair of Audit and Accounting at the Institute of Accounting, Control and Auditing (ACA-HSG), funded by KPMG,
• Chair of Business Economics and Public Policy at the Executive School of Management, Technology and Law (ES-HSG), funded by Josef Ackermann,
• Chair of Family Business at the Centre for Family Business (CFB-HSG), funded by Ernst & Young,
• Chair of International Retail Management at the Institute of Retail Management (IRM-HSG), funded by the Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund,
• Chair of International Business Law and Law and Economics at the Institute of Public Finance, Fiscal Law and Law and Economics (IFF-HSG), funded by the Lemann Foundation,
• Chair of Management of Renewable Energies at the Institute for Economy and the Environment (IWÖ-HSG), funded by the COFRA Foundation,
• Chair of Insurance Management at the Institute of Insurance Economics (I.VW-HSG), funded by the I.VW research group.