Diego del Alcázar y Silvela
Founder and President, IE Business School
Diego del Alcázar y Silvela, Marquis de la Romana, was born in Avila 64 years ago. He studied law, political sciences and business administration. Diego del Alcázar y Silvela was the founder of Instituto de Empresa Business School with a group of entrepreneurs in 1973, and became the driving force behind the school. Today he is President of IE Business School
His firm commitment to fostering a spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation extends beyond his prolific work at Instituto de Empresa, that is currently ranked among the five best business schools in Europe. As an independent entrepreneur he has also helped to start up several prominent business in Spain, including Aguas de Mondariz, Balneario de Mondariz, Publicidad Gisbert, Group Negocios and Thomil.
He also has served on the boards of numerous companies in the communication, media and consumer goods sectors, like Vocento, Mondariz, ONO, Chocolates Eureka and Técnicas Reunidas.
A keen supporter of the arts, he is Vice-president of the Foundation for the Support of History of Hispanic Art, that backs young doctoral graduates in arts by helping them publish their work, and he is Vice-president of the Spanish Foundation for the Development of Corporate Patronage. In 1985, in collaboration with the José Ortega y Gasset Foundation, he created the Juan Lladó Award, which is now recognized as one of the most prestigious awards within the business community in the field of patronage.
Diego del Alcazar’s personal interests include collecting contemporary and classical art. He recently completed the restoration of a noble palace in the Spanish province of Avila which has been awarded by a special mention by Europa Nostra.
He is married to María Benjumea Cabeza de Vaca, who is also an entrepreneur and President of Infoempleo.com.
Santiago Íñiguez de Onzoño
Dean, IE Business School; President IE University
Santiago Íñiguez is the Dean of IE Business School and the President of IE University. He holds a Degree in Law, a Ph.D. in Moral Philosophy and Jurisprudence (Complutense University, Spain) and an MBA from IE Business School. He was a Recognized Student at the University of Oxford, UK.
Íñiguez has worked as a management consultant and has played an active role in the field of quality control and development of management education in Europe. He is Vice-Chairman of AACSB and also serves on the boards of Renmin University Business School (China), CENTRUM (Universidad Católica, Perú), Antai Business School (Jiao Tong University, China), Mazars University (France) the Russian Presidential Academy-RANEPA (Russia) and FGV-EASP Fundaçao Getulio Vargas (Brazil). He was portrayed by the Financial Times as “one of the most significant figures in promoting European business schools internationally”.
Íñiguez is also President of the IE Fund in the US and the Vice-Chairman of FT-IE Corporate Learning Alliance, a global joint venture offering custom education for companies.
Íñiguez is Professor of Strategic Management at IE Business School. His most recent book, “The Learning Curve: How Business Schools Are Reinventing Education” (http://bit.ly/dXriHU) focuses on the transformations of business education. He is co-editor of www.deanstalk.net, a blog focused on management education issues. Íñiguez is a regular speaker at international conferences, he is a LinkedIn Influencer, and frequently contributes in different journals and media on higher education and executive development.
Diego del Alcázar Benjumea
Vice Chairman, IE Business School
Diego del Alcázar Benjumea is Vice Chairman of IE Business School and sits on its Board of Directors. Diego plays a key role in the strategic vision and the general management of the institution. He is also active in promoting corporate and institutional relations across five continents.
In late 2014, Diego joined the board of FT|IE Corporate Learning Alliance (FT|IE CLA), a joint venture created by IE Business School and the Financial Times Group to design and implement customized education for companies.
After working as a strategic consultant for Bain & Company, he co-founded Step Up Capital, a vehicle to identify, invest, and manage business opportunities. In turn, Step Up Capital holds the majority stake of SSIE, one of Spain’s leading efficient lighting companies. He is also the co-founder and member of the board of The South Summit, one of Europe’s leading startup conferences. His areas of expertise are therefore Business Education, Entrepreneurship, Venturepreneurship, Venture Capital, Technologies and Energy Efficiency.
Diego holds an MBA from INSEAD Business School and a Double Degree in Law and Business Administration from Madrid’s Complutense University.