The GSB's Executive MBA program at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz is one of the longest-running programs of its kind in Germany.
One of the most important goals of the executive and management education at the GSB is to develop the participants into responsible leaders who are able to successfully fulfill leadership tasks responsibly for the employees, the company, society and the environment. In this context, the tradition of electing class patrons was also formed.
Each year, the graduates of an EMBA class select a personality from business, science or politics as the cohorts patron, with whom they can particularly identify and who represents the identity of their cohort.
With the patronage, the personality assumes the patronage for the respective year and should serve the alumni as a role model and inspiration for their future leadership and management tasks.
The following persons have assumed patronage of the Executive MBA program for the classes successfully completed to date:
| Name | Academic Year | |
 | Prof. Dr. Marbod Muff 1st Academic Year Chairman of the Board InnoNet HealthEconomy e.V., former Member of the Executive Board Boehringer Ingelheim | 1st Academic Year |
 | Dr. Friedhelm Plogmann 2nd Academic Year Former Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors Landesbank Rheinland-Palatinate | 2nd Academic Year |
 | Dr. Klaus Kremper 4th Academic Year Founder and Partner OneFiber Interconnect Germany GmbH | 4th Academic Year |
 | Manfred Maus 5th Academic Year Chairman of the Cologne Diocesan Group of the Federation of Catholic Entrepreneurs (BKU), founder of OBI | 5th Academic Year |
| Annette Schavan 6th Academic Year Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Heilige Stuhl, former Federal Minister of Education and Research | 6th Academic Year |
 | Rainer Brüderle 8th Academic Year Former Federal Minister of Economics and Technology | 8th Academic Year |
 | Christian Boehringer 9th Academic Year Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Boehringer Ingelheim | 9th Academic Year |
 | Karl-Friedrich Stracke 10th Academic Year President Automotive Engineering Engineering Magna Steyr AG & Co KG | 10th Academic Year |
 | Eveline Lemke 11th Academic Year Consultant, thinker and guide in the circular economy MdL, former Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate | 11th Academic Year |
 | Klaus Kaldemorgen 12th Academic Year Fondmanager, DWS, Frankfurt | 12th Academic Year |
 | Dr. Jörg Kukies 13th Academic Year State Secretary, Federal Chancellery | 13th Academic Year |
 | Malu Dreyer 14th Academic Year Prime Minister Rhineland-Palatinate | 14th Academic Year |
 | Dr. Matthias Fritton 15th Academic Year Executive Vice President of Deutsche Börse AG | 15th Academic Year |
 | Simone Menne 15th Academic Year Former member of the Executive Board of Boehringer Ingelheim | 15th Academic Year |
 | Christian Lindner MdB 16th Academic Year Federal Minister of Finance | 16th Academic Year |
 | Michael Ebling 17th Academic Year Lord Mayor of the State Capital Mainz | 17th Academic Year |
 | Susanne Veltins 18th Academic Year Brewery owner C.& A. VELTINS GmbH & Co. KG | 18th Academic Year |
 | Federal President (ret.) Joachim Gauck 19th Academic Year Federal President (ret.) | 19th Academic Year |
 | Dr. Falko Hagebölling 20th Academic Year Head of Development Operations, Member of the Executive Board IVU Traffic Technologies AG | 20th Academic Year |
 | Dr. Jens Schulte 21th Academic Year CFO at SCHOTT AG | 21th Academic Year |