Xavier Mendoza replaces Koldo Echebarria at the head of Esade

Relief in the general management of Esade. The board of trustees of the Barcelona business school announced this Tuesday that as of September 1, Xavier Mendoza will replace Koldo Echebarria, who ends his term after four years in office. Mendoza holds a doctorate in Economic and Business Sciences from the University of Barcelona and a degree in Business Administration and a master's in Business Management from Esade, an institution with which he has been linked since 1982 and where he was dean of the business school between 2000 and 2008. The new general director is a professor in the Department of General Management and Strategy and, since March 2021, was also academic director of the 2030 Leaders Program initiative for the Misk Foundation, in Saudi Arabia.

"Xavier Mendoza's knowledge and experience will be of great value to lead a strategic review process that facilitates the formulation of a new Institutional Strategic Plan, once the current one approaches its end. Among the objectives of his mandate, priority will be given to continuing to advance in fulfilling Esade's mission and strengthening its positioning as an academic institution distinguished by the quality of the educational experience, its commitment to innovation, entrepreneurial initiative, sustainability, and social impact, all supported by rigorous and relevant research for society," Esade highlighted.

Koldo Echebarria's mandate has been marked by the pandemic and by all the efforts and changes that the business school has had to make to maintain its activity and continue offering classes to students. The health crisis led the academic institution to close with losses of 700,000 euros in the 2019-2020 fiscal year, but this situation was reversed a year later. Thus, in its last fiscal year, closed in August 2021, Esade billed 106 million and obtained a profit of four million euros. The board of trustees points out that during Echebarria's mandate "large-scale projects have been completed" and highlight the strengthening "of global prestige" and the ability to increasingly attract international talent, as now 65% of students are foreigners. In the last four years, Esade has also created new degrees to reinforce its commitment to educational innovation, technological skills have been improved, and the scholarship program has been expanded, with an endowment of 4 million and 297 students benefited.

Among Esade's pending projects are the remodeling of the complex it occupies on Avenida Pedralbes, in Barcelona, and the search for a building in Madrid to launch a new campus. With more than 11,000 students per year, the academic institution divides its activity into three main areas: Business School, Law School, and Executive Education programs.