Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS Business School) is a

business school A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, school of business administration, o ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and an affiliate of the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...

. It is located in the heart of Illovo,

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, close to the

Sandton Sandton is an upscale commercial and residential district north of the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. It forms part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. The name of the city came from the combination of two of its suburbs, ...

financial and commercial business hub. GIBS is accredited by the Council on Higher Education (CHE) and internationally by

Association of MBAs The Association of MBAs (AMBA) is a global organisation founded in 1967 which focuses primarily on international business school accreditation and membership. Roles Based in London, AMBA is one of the three main global accreditation bodies in ...

(AMBA).http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/university-of-pretoria-gibs GIBS Retrieved October 1, 2011 It is ranked as one of the best business schools in South Africa and the wider Africa, with flagship programmes that include the Masters in Business Administration (MBA), Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration (PDBA), Doctor of Business Administration (DBA/PHD). In 2012, the GIBS DBA became the first South African doctoral programme in business to receive international accreditation from AMBA. GIBS also offers various Executive Programmes: short courses, executive level programmes like the Global Executive Development & General Management Programmes, company-specific programmes. Extended Programmes are longer certificate programmes and include the Social Entrepreneurship Programme, Leading Women Programme and Nexus Leadership Programme.

History and campus

GIBS was established in January 2000 following a contribution by Sir Donald Gordon, the founder of

Liberty Life Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society f ...

and

Liberty International Intu Properties plc was a British real estate investment trust (REIT), largely focused on shopping centre management and development. Originally named Liberty International plc, it changed its name in May 2010 to Capital Shopping Centres Group p ...

, and a major investment by the University of Pretoria following discussions that started in 1998. The business school follows on the university's Graduate School of Management's long tradition of

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

tuition. Founded in 1949, the GSM MBA was the first MBA programme to be launched outside of North America. The GSM as of January 2008 was formally replaced by the Gordon Institute of Business Science. GIBS is situated in a greenfield campus in the Illovo Boulevard, mixed-use commercial node between the suburbs of Rosebank and

in Johannesburg, with a satellite inner city campus on Pritchard Street. 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 Johannesburg Park Station is the central railway station in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, and the largest railway station in Africa. It is located between the Central Business District and Braamfontein, in the block bordered by Rissik, ...

. ;Sir Donald Gordon Sir Donald Gordon (24 June 1930 – 21 November 2019) was a South African businessman and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

. He was educated at King Edward VII School in

Financial Inspiration
before doing his articles to be a Chartered Accountant at the firm ''Kessel Feinstein'' (Now ''Grant Thornton''). He founded the ''Liberty Life Association of Africa'' in 1957Donald Gordon: CV
out of which he formed ''Transatlantic Insurance Holdings plc'', now

(Property portfolio of £6.2 billion (2009)) and

Liberty Holdings Limited Liberty Holdings Limited (JSE: LBH) is a financial services and property holding company with registered head office situated in Johannesburg, South Africa at Liberty Centre, 1 Ameshoff St., Braamfontein. The company was founded in South Afr ...

(Total assets of R449 billion (2011)). He was a co-founder of British company

Abbey Life Abbey Life Assurance Company Limited is a life assurance business based in London also with an office in Bournemouth. The company has been closed to new business in 2000. Abbey Life was formerly a public company listed on the London Stock Exchan ...

. In June 2005, he was awarded a British knighthood in recognition of his services to arts and business.

Rankings

Academics

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). Past and present faculty members include

Gill Marcus Gill Marcus (born 10 August 1949) is a former Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, being the ninth person and the first and only woman to hold the position. Life and career Early years Marcus was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He ...

(ninth Governor of the

South African Reserve Bank The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is the central bank of South Africa. It was established in 1921 after Parliament passed an act, the "Currency and Bank Act of 10 August 1920", as a direct result of the abnormal monetary and financial condit ...

) 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.

References

{{Authority control Educational institutions established in 2000 Business schools in South Africa 2000 establishments in South Africa