Poul Winding
Rector 1957-1963
Rector Poul Winding (1916-1966) initiated a process, which led to the independence of Handelshøjskolen and the establishment of the first MSc in Economics and Business Administration in Denmark. Winding had an MSc in Economics and Management. He was appointed associate professor in 1949 and reader of political economy at Handelshøjskolen in 1953.
After his doctoral dissertation had been acknowledged, Poul Winding was appointed professor in 1956 and shortly after, he became director of Handelshøjskolen. When he presented his first annual report, he gave himself the title ‘Rector’, which became the official title of the head of Handelshøjskolen.
In 1961, Poul Winding initiated the establishment of a ministerial commission, which ended up drawing up legislation that led to Handelshøjskolen’s separation from the Danish Society for the Advancement of Business and transformation to an independent institution. In parallel, he drove a major study reform, leading to a significant boost of the BSc programme in terms of economics and theory teaching. The reform also resulted in today’s MSc in Economics and Business Administration.