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 that 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 (24 June 1930 – 21 November 2019) was 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]

The GIBS MBA has been consistently ranked among the top 100 globally in the prestigious London Financial Times Executive MBA Rankings with the last ranking in 2019. In 2021, the GIBS MBA was ranked as having the best reputation among employers and the first choice for students looking to pursue an MBA in the country by the Financial Mail Top MBA Ranking. Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings: Global Executive MBA 2021, ranked GIBS at number 52, placing the School’s MBA in the top 30% globally. In addition, in 2021, US-based CEO Magazine ranked GIBS 12th in its Global MBA Rankings highlighting the School as a Tier 1 business school.

The GIBS Executive Education offering was ranked in the global top 50 and - for the 17th consecutive year - as the top South African and African business school by the prestigious Financial Times in 2020.

Affiliations and accreditations

GIBS is accredited to and affiliated with the following associations and networks:

The Association of MBAs (AMBA's)- An impartial and global authority on postgraduate business education. The Academy of Business in Society (ABIS) - An international network of more than 130 companies and academic institutions which aim to promote a more sustainable future for business in society. The South African Business Schools Association (SABSA) - An institution focused on developing the local business education sector in line with international standards. Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME)- A voluntary initiative to stimulate responsible management education, research and thought leadership as defined by the UN Global Compact. CEEMAN - An international management development association established to accelerate the growth in quality of management development in Central and Eastern Europe. Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) - A global accreditation body of long-standing and recognised for embedding the pursuit of excellence and continuous improvement within business and accounting programmes at the bachelors, masters and doctoral level. European Quality Improvement System (or EQUIS), an international system of assessment and accreditation of higher education institutions in management and business administration run by the European Foundation for Management Development

In 2021, the school had 35 permanent faculty members, 29 adjunct faculty members, 11 international faculty members, 8 extraordinary professors and 1 honorary professor (80% of faculty members hold a doctorate[13]). Past and present faculty members include Gill Marcus (ninth Governor of the South African Reserve Bank) and Nick Binedell.

Company-specific programmes clients include Standard Bank, Anglo American PLC, ABSA, 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.[15]

https://businesstech.co.za/news/business/500669/south-africas-top-ranked-executive-mbas/