Gordon Institute of Business Science

GIBS was established in January 2000 following a contribution by Sir Donald Gordon, the founder of Liberty Life and Liberty International, and a major investment by the University of Pretoria following discussions started in 1998.[4][5] The business school follows on the university's Graduate School of Management's long tradition of MBA tuition. Founded in 1949,[6] the GSM MBA was the first MBA programme to be launched outside of North America.[7] The GSM as of January 2008 was formally replaced by the Gordon Institute of Business Science.[8]

GIBS is situated in a greenfield campus in the Illovo Boulevard, mixed-use commercial node between the suburbs of Rosebank and Sandton in Johannesburg,[9] with a satellite inner city campus on Pritchard Street.[10] Accommodation is provided on the Illovo campus by the on campus Illovo Hotel. The Illovo campus is served by the Rosebank Gautrain station, with a nearby Gautrain bus stop and the inner city campus by the Johannesburg Park Station.

Sir Donald Gordon

Sir Donald Gordon (born 24 June 1930) is a South African businessman and philanthropist. He was educated at King Edward VII School in Johannesburg[11] before doing his articles to be a Chartered Accountant at the firm Kessel Feinstein (Now Grant Thornton).[11] He founded the Liberty Life Association of Africa in 1957[12] out of which he formed Transatlantic Insurance Holdings plc, now Liberty International (Property portfolio of £6.2 billion (2009)) and Liberty Holdings Limited (Total assets of R449 billion (2011)).[12] He was a co-founder of British company Abbey Life. In June 2005, he was awarded a British knighthood in recognition of his services to arts and business.[12]

In 2011, an independent research survey by Magnet Communications of business school satisfaction levels among MBA students rated GIBS the top position in 7 out of 10 categories.[13] In 2012, the Financial Times ranked the school 47 for Executive Education Open and 42 for Executive Education Customied, the highest in Africa.[14] A 2011 PMR.Africa national survey of human resource directors/managers and line managers on accredited business schools gave GIBS a Diamond award and gave it the highest overall score in South Africa.[15] Nick Binedell, the director of GIBS, won the Diamond Arrow Award for Individual in the Business School fraternity in South Africa doing most to enhance and develop the relevancy of business schools.[15]

GIBS has consistently been ranked the top business school for executive education (open) in Africa, as well as being placed in the top 50 in the world.[16] In 2012 the Financial Times ranked the GIBS Executive MBA 1st in Africa and 60th in the world.[17]

Affiliations and accreditations

GIBS is affiliated with South African Business Schools Association (SABSA),[18] African Association of Business Schools (AABS),[19] European Academy of Business in Society (EABIS)[20] and Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME).[21] GIBS is accredited by the Council on Higher Education (CHE) and internationally by AMBA[1]

In 2015, the school had 25 permanent faculty members, 23 adjunct faculty members, 11 international faculty members, 8 extraordinary professors and 1 honorary professor (80% of faculty members hold a doctorate[17]). Past and present faculty members include Gill Marcus (ninth Governor of the South African Reserve Bank) and Nick Binedell.

Company-specific programmes clients includes Standard Bank, Anglo American PLC, Barclays Africa, SABMiller, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the South African National Treasury. The company-specific programmes have been delivered in 22 countries and include the certificates in Senior Management Development, Wealth Management, Middle Management Development Programme and Foundation Management Development Programme.[22]