Rector’s Message

Rector's Message on November 10th, 2012

Welcome to the 2012 Homecoming
and the 18th Anniversary of SSE Riga

This year has seen remarkable development in terms of alumni donations – both in terms of alumni participation and money raised. In fact, the SSE Riga alumni are, per capita, among the most active and generous in the world. For SSE Riga, this goes far beyond the funds raised – which are highly appreciated. It shows a strong committment to the SSE Riga community even after graduation, as well as willingness, through scholarships raised, to open up the SSE Riga experience to new generations of talented students. Furthermore, for any academic institution (and SSE Riga is not an exception) alumni participation and donations are viewed as a barometer of alumni satisfaction. Hence, for SSE Riga, the alumni commitment is good feedback which will spur us to further enhance the SSE Riga experience.

Furthermore, the high level of alumni participation also sends a strong signal to our benefactors that the education from SSE Riga is highly valued and worth supporting. In terms of corporate donations, the highlight of the year was when we, together with representatives from Nordea, SEB, and Swedbank, unveiled the ‘Key to Success’ glass sculpture in the SSE Riga courtyard. The sculpture celebrates the generosity of the three banks and their commitment to education, and hence to the social and economic development of the Baltic states. Through the generosity of the three banks, students from the three Baltic states will receive a tuition fee waiver, which essentially will open up the SSE Riga BSc programme to any qualified candidate irrespective of socio-economic background. This will undoubtedly benefit the individual students but also, and more importantly, will benefit the Baltic states.

Through the generosity of the banks, in combination with the Swedish Government Scholarship Programme open to students from Belarus, Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine, SSE Riga has developed into a regional educational ‘hub’ – and as such it will build alumni networks across borders and foster regional integration for the benefit of us all.

The past year has seen management changes at the Stockholm School of Economics (in Stockholm). A new management team, led by the recently appointed President, Professor Rolf Wolff took over this summer. On behalf of SSE Riga I would like to wish them good luck in their future endeavours – we are looking forward to welcoming them to SSE Riga! I would also like to take the opportunity to thank the previous President, Professor Lars Bergman, for his strong personal engagement and the pivotal role he played when it came to developing and implementing a long-term sustainable ownership and governance structure for SSE Riga.

On behalf of the entire SSE Riga community I would like to thank all our alumni and benefactors for their contributions during the past year and at the same time welcome you to Homecoming weekend!

Anders Paalzow
Rector, SSE Riga