The Wits Business School celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. 

Wits University’s business school is 50-years-old this year. Established  in 1968 as Johannesburg’s first business school, WBS (Wits Business School) is using its anniversary to celebrate its top achievements.

Alison Gaylard, WBS communications officer, says one of these achievements is the high number of staff with doctoral degrees. “The vast majority of our faculty have PhDs – the highest number of any business school in South Africa … The school is also the first in South Africa (and Africa) to establish Chairs in Digital Business, Energy Leadership and African Philanthropy.”

Director of the Postgraduate Diploma in Management (PDM), and Head of Career Management Services, Charisse Drobis, considers the career area of WBS as her highlight for the 17 years she has spent working at Wits Business School.

“…the achievements of which I am most proud include building a highly credible brand for the careers area of WBS, which serves all of our academic students, the fact that we’ve consistently facilitated the placement of 90% of our PDMs into internships sponsored by the WBS network of employers,” she adds.

Through a partnership with Telkom in 2016, the WBS established the first Chair in Digital Business in Africa, headed by Prof Brian Armstrong. Ayanda Magida, one of the academic researchers said “The chair has been for me one of the greatest developments in the school; it is a new field in the continent and has enormous potential to contribute to academia and research in the epoch of digitalisation.”

Director of International Relations, Dr Renee Horne, has played an instrumental role in building relationships with organisations as well as other business schools around the world during her time at WBS. Under her leadership, WBS has partnered with 30 business schools around the globe and with between 400 and 500 WBS students embarking on a global study tour every year.

WBS will celebrate its half century anniversary through a series of events that will take place throughout this year and the 50-year journey will be showcased through an exhibition, a ‘Fifty Years of Stories’ table book, a virtual memory wall as well as seminars led by alumni and prominent business people such as Vusi Thembekwayo.

FEATURED PHOTO: Entrance of the 50 year old Wits Business School. Photo: Tshiamo Mononyane.

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