Statement from Dean Ilian Mihov: INSEAD mourns the loss of former Dean, Uwe Kitzinger
I am deeply saddened to share news of the passing of Uwe Kitzinger CBE, one of our early INSEAD Deans, who served from 1976 to 1980.
In this difficult moment, our thoughts are with the Kitzinger family. Together, we mourn the loss of a leader, European visionary and important figure of our INSEAD community.
Uwe Kitzinger was a scholar from Oxford Research College and a militant European, having long campaigned for the cause of European unity. In 1976 he moved to Fontainebleau, France to become Dean of INSEAD, having previously been advisor to the vice-president of the European Economic Community (EEC) commission in charge of external relations and serving for 12 years as investments bursar responsible for the Nuffield College endowment, which kept him in daily contact with brokers and financial institutions.
His strong vision to grow the academic reputation of INSEAD and drive a greater involvement in European contemporary problems of both public and private management resulted in him gaining almost full faculty support to become Dean, with 95 percent of votes. He would go on to actively encourage research, particularly into the effects of cultural diversity on European and international management practice, during his time leading the school.
In his first speech to incoming MBA students he told them that they would emerge “enriched as human beings by this experiment in multicultural living, but above all not as mercenaries simply out to sell yourselves to the highest bidder, but as missionaries of questing open-mindedness and innovation who see the job of management as the task of strategic choice”.
Under Kitzinger, INSEAD undoubtedly consolidated its research capability and orientation, through his recruiting policies, public addresses and systematic appeals to the Board.
We say goodbye to a great man and a dear friend. Rest assured his legacy lives on through INSEAD, where he was responsible for injecting more scholarly values into the school.
Uwe will be missed by the entire INSEAD Community.
Kind regards,
Ilian Mihov
Dean of INSEAD
