"115 years of HHL - 11+5 HHL faces" portraits Petra Schumann

[HHL gGmbH - 12.04.2013] HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, the first business school established in Germany, celebrates its 115th anniversary this year. The institution was founded in the Auditorium Maximum of Leipzig University on April 25, 1898, to train young merchants seeking to lead large companies in an appropriate manner. After World War II, it was absorbed into Leipzig University: in 1969, the GDR opened a business school with a focus on domestic trade. In 1992, today's HHL was re-established as a private university by the Leipzig Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Association of Friends of HHL.

Teaching all its programs in English, HHL has been one of the trailblazers in Germany since the mid-1990s. Long before the financial crisis, HHL was one of the first business schools to focus on the conditions for responsible and sustainable leadership.
HHL now responds to the new challenges of leadership in the 21st century through its innovate125 Future Concept, keeping in tune with a holistic approach and expanding the dimensions of effectiveness and responsibility, aided by the perspective of innovation.

On the occasion of the 115th anniversary of HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, the school publishes the series "11+5 HHL faces” introducing personalities connected with HHL.

***Petra Schumann (*1956)

Petra Schumann, 56, studied at Handelshochschule Leipzig between 1976 and 1980, graduating with the "Diplom-Ökonom" degree. The alumna, who is originally from Meißen, Saxony, says: "During my studies at HHL, I was taught competently. This theoretical foundation together with the practical experiences I obtained at Konsumgenossenschaft Leipzig helped me to develop continuously."

Immediately after her studies, Petra Schumann became Deputy Branch Director and as of January 1, 1991, she served as Head of the Food Purchasing Department of Konsumgenossenschaft Leipzig eG. A little more than ten years later, she became Marketing/Human Resources Director and in 2004, she was appointed Chief Executive Officer.

Konsumgenossenschaft Leipzig eG co-operative, which was founded as "Consum-Verein für Plagwitz und Umgegend" ("Consumption Association for Plagwitz and the Surrounding Area") in 1884, today has 71 branches, 847 employees and almost 34,000 members. In 2012, the co-operative reached gross sales of EUR 107,500,000.

Petra Schumann, who is an active member in various organizations - she has been on the Executive Committee of Handball-Club Leipzig (HCL) since 2004 and a member of the General Assembly of the Leipzig Chamber of Industry and Commerce since 2012 - is proud of "her" Konsum.

Already for the 4th time the publisher Lebensmittel Praxis awards a Konsum branch with the national title "Supermarket of the Year”. On April 10, 2013, the shop in Leipzig's "Karli 6b" was crowned the winner.

Thinking of HHL, the passionate handball player and canoeist says: "Keeping in touch and expanding the relationship with HHL has always been a matter close to my heart. I gladly point out the significance of HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management to all the national bodies I am a member of."

***HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management

HHL is a university-level institution and ranks amongst the leading international Business Schools. The goal of the longest standing business school in German-speaking Europe is to educate effective, responsible and entrepreneurially minded leaders. In addition to HHL's international focus the combination of theory and practice plays a key role. HHL stands out for its excellent teaching, its clear research focus, its effective knowledge transfer into practice as well as its outstanding student services. The school offers an 24-month full-time als well as part-time Master program in Management leading to the degree Master of Science (M.Sc.) and also an 18 month Global Executive MBA.HHL's program is complemented by the two-year Euro*MBA-Program, a program based on e-learning (electronically supported learning). A three-year doctoral program, which can be studied part-time as well, completes HHL's courses of study. The department of Executive Education offers company specific and open training programs for advanced education for specialist and leading positions. HHL received the accreditation of AACSB International in April 2004 and was the first German private school to be re-accredited in April 2009. http://www.hhl.de

More information:

http://www.hhl.de/115years/petra-schumann/
http://www.hhl.de/115years
http://www.hhl.de