Dean Jordi Canals met with alumni in Asia in April as part of his world tour to celebrate IESE’s 50th anniversary. More than 460 alumni and friends shared in the celebrations at special events in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo. Profs. Pedro Nueno, Pankaj Ghemawat and Kimio Kase accompanied the dean, who gave an overview of the school’s history and future in his address, “IESE Turns 50: The Next 50 Years.”

At the Shanghai meeting, Prof. Nueno, executive president of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), welcomed alumni including Ricardo Ferrer Solanellas, CEO of Asia Horizon Ltd; August Wu of McKinsey & Company China; Akinori Kusano of PricewaterhouseCoopers; Elizabeth Kenyon of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP; and Li Wen of Chinaves Business Consulting. Dean Canals highlighted Prof. Nueno’s role in supporting CEIBS’ development.

Global Strategy Professor Pankaj Ghemewat gave a talk on “Why the World Isn’t Flat and Why it Matters” at the Shanghai meeting and also in Tokyo. Alumni and friends who enjoyed the talk included Akihiro Kasai, president of the IESE Japan Chapter and head of global operations and informations systems at the Bank of Tokyo – Mitsubishi UFJ; Satoshi Igarashi, manager of Shinkin Central Bank; and Fernando de Górgolas Hernández-Mora, marketing director of Siemens Heathcare Diagnostics.

Another speaker at the Tokyo event was Takumi Shibata, deputy president and COO of Nomura Holdings. Shibata discussed the value of going overseas for business education and said that alumni contribute to society when they help their school. Other attendees at the Tokyo event were Isaac Freitas Asension, global capital market director at PricewaterhouseCoopers; Alexander de Laiglesia Heath, general manager at Shinsei Bank; and Haruki Katayama of NTT Communications.

The Asian leg of the dean’s world tour also included Hong Kong where he and the professors met with alumni including Martijn Pier Hoogwerf, manager of Fortis Bank China; Edvaldo Morato, general manager of the Hong Kong branch of Banco Santander; and Gloria Su Cabada, assistant director of Peru’s commercial office.