Olga Dergunova has been appointed Director of the Graduate School of Management of St Petersburg University
At a meeting of the Advisory Board of the Graduate School of Management it was announced that Olga Dergunova will replace Andrey Kostin, President and Chairman of VTB Bank Management Board, as Director of the Graduate School of Management. Olga Dergunova will continue holding the post of Deputy President and Chairman of VTB Bank Management Board.
Sergey Ivanov, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Graduate School of Management and Special Presidential Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport, endorsed the decision of the Advisory Board. ‘On behalf of the Advisory Board of the Graduate School of Management I would like to thank Andrey Kostin for his contribution to the development of the school. Under the leadership of Andrey Kostin, the Graduate School of Management has been ranked among the leading business schools. I support fully the appointment of Olga Dergunova who has been working closely with the Graduate School of Management for many years and has done much to form its foundations.’
The Advisory Board of the Graduate School of Management has been in place since 1993. Currently, there are 33 representatives from state agencies, banks, leading business schools and universities, as well as prominent public leaders. Among the members of the board are the heads of 19 Russian and international leading companies including: VTB Bank, Gazprom, Severstal, Rusnano, Joint Stock Financial Corporation SISTEMA, MMC Norilsk Nickel, Procter & Gamble, L’Oreal, Gazprombank, and Citibank Russia.
Andrey Kostin took up the position as Dean of the Graduate School of Management in 2012. In 2014, when the department was granted the status of an institute, he was appointed director. For the first time in the history of Russian business education The Financial Times and The Economist included the School in their ratings. The programme ‘Master in Management’ was ranked 65th by the FT Global Masters in Management in 2013. The School has been improving its position every year and in 2018 it ranked 23rd.
Andrey Kostin noted that during the last seven years the Graduate School of Management of St Petersburg University has advanced to an international level. ‘In this digital world we are entering into a new frontier and we are in need of a new technological leap. We need advanced competencies in the digital economy. Olga Dergunova is one of the leading Russian specialists in this sphere.’
Olga Dergunova has been cooperating with the Graduate School of Management since 2007, when she became a member of the Advisory Board. She regularly participates in school’s events and delivers open lectures.
‘Many years of cooperation have proved that the Graduate School of Management is a project with high potential. It is not so much the ratings, but the willingness and commitment to be a forerunner and keep abreast of the times. A large-scale project on digital transformation is a perfect illustration of the school’s plans. I am sure that we will manage to build a modern business school on the solid foundation laid by Andrey Kostin. Such an institute will be in demand both in Russia and internationally,’ believes Olga Dergunova, Deputy President and Chairman of VTB Bank Management Board.
The Graduate School of Management of St Petersburg University is the only Russian business school which ranks top-95 best European schools, according to The Financial Times ranking, and has the prestigious international accreditations АМВА and EQUIS.