Tributes have been paid to Laszlo Czaban, a former Senior Lecturer in Organisational Analysis and International Management at AMBS, who has passed away.
Laszlo worked at AMBS for 25 years until his retirement last year. He was well-known for being Programme Director of the flagship MSc in Business Analysis and Strategic Management from 2007 until 2023, while he also previously held a role as Transitional Director of the former MBS Doctoral Programme.
Professor Axèle Giroud, Head of the International Business Group at AMBS, said: “Laszlo was a dedicated, kind and inspirational colleague, always ready to support others and to contribute to the success of our International Business group and of AMBS generally.
“He was a true mentor to so many new academics, helping them acquire the necessary skills to successfully teach students. He was a visionary who also helped shape the MSc in Business Analysis and Strategic Management, and made it the success it is today.”
Laszlo’s research focused on comparative systems, political ideologies and management, and he worked closely with Professor Richard Whitley and Professor Jeffrey Henderson. He published influential and highly cited articles in top level journals, and for many years he also taught research philosophy on the AMBS doctoral programme.
William Il-kuk Kang, a Senior Lecturer in International Business and Management at AMBS, added: “Laszlo believed in the value of exposing students to ambiguity. ‘The world is full of uncertainties,” he would say, ‘and our graduates must learn to navigate them, to think for themselves, and to reflect’.
“His vision profoundly shaped what the MSc Business Analysis and Strategic Management has become today. The consultancy project he introduced in 2010 remains his lasting gift to the programme and its defining feature.
“To us, he was not just a colleague, but a friend and mentor whose warmth and generosity touched everyone around him. Students loved him, and so did we. He brought so much life to our community. We will miss him more than words can express.”