Hans Jobst Pleitner 1935-2024

On 19 July 2024, Prof. em. Dr. Hans Jobst Pleitner passed away in St. Gallen at the age of 89.

Hans Jobst Pleitner was born on 5 June 1935 in Osnabrück, Germany. After leaving school, he trained as an industrial clerk at Siemens AG and its subsidiary Deutsche Grammophon, before going on to study business administration at the University of Münster and the University of St.Gallen (HSG), which was still called the Handels-Hochschule (HH) at the time. In spring 1962, he completed his basic studies with a degree in economics (lic. oec.), and in 1965 he joined the «IGW, Swiss Reserach Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship at the University of St.Gallen» as a research assistant. In spring 1972, he was awarded a doctorate in economics (Dr. oec. HSG). In 1975, he took over the management of the institute from Prof. Dr. Alfred Gutersohn on an interim basis, and was appointed director in 1980. In 1985, having completed his habilitation, he was appointed professor of business administration with a special focus on small business at the University of St.Gallen. He led the institute until 2002, two years after his retirement from University of St.Gallen. After his time at the HSG, Hans Jobst Pleitner was also appointed Professor of Entrepreneurial Management at Steinbeis University Berlin. Hans Jobst Pleitner died in St.Gallen on 19 July 2024.

During his time at the institute until he left in 2002, he made a significant contribution to transforming the institute from a craft and commercial institute to an institute for SMEs and entrepreneurship, thanks to his foresight, his scientific expertise and, not least, his international network and connections. We were privileged to get to know Hans Jobst Pleitner as a very human, extremely clever and humorous institute director and colleague, and we learned a lot from him.

Even though you are no longer with us, dear Hans Jobst, you will remain in our fondest memories. If you had not existed, we would have had to invent you. Thank you for everything!

Obituaries for Hans Jobst Pleitner (NZZ and St.Galler Tagblatt)