Joaquín Uriach, new president of the ESADE Board of Trustees
Joaquín Uriach (MBA’94), president of the Uriach Group, has been appointed President of the Board of Trustees of the ESADE Foundation, the institution’s highest governing body. He will be replacing Manuel Raventós (Raventós i Blanc), who has held the post since July 2013 and is finishing his four-year term of office. In addition to Uriach’s appointment as president, the Board of Trustees of the ESADE Foundation has also appointed Xavier Torra (Eurecat) vice president and is welcoming Ramon Forn (McKinsey), Pere Viñolas (Colonial) and Salvador Busquets (Caritas) as new members.
During Raventós’s term, ESADE has been recognised by the prestigious Financial Times as one of the world’s top business schools, especially in areas such as international mobility, entrepreneurship, the level of its corporate partnerships, and the quality of its learning model.
Uriach was already a member of the Board of Trustees and President of ESADE Alumni. For Uriach, ‘ESADE has always been a group of committed people, with their own style, who are ready and willing to take on challenges as citizens of their own countries and of the world.’ In his view, the institution should continue to train entrepreneurs, executives, business owners and lawyers ‘in order to achieve a more socially developed and fair society’. According to the new president, ‘It is up to all of us to preserve and strengthen ESADE’s hallmark trait, its humanistic component, so necessary to navigate today’s uncertain and complex world.’
Bios of the president and new members of the ESADE Board of Trustees
Joaquín Uriach (MBA’94): Mr Uriach has been President of ESADE Alumni since September 2015. He previously served as Vice President and has been actively involved in the ESADE Alumni Family Business Club since its creation. He holds a bachelor’s degree in law from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (1988), an MBA from ESADE (1994) and a PDG (General Management Programme) from IESE (2004). He is currently President of the Uriach Group. He previously served as Secretary General of Corporación Uriach and was a member of the executive committee at Laboratorios J. Uriach y Cía., S.A.
Xavier Torra (EDIK’84): Mr Torra is President of the Board of Trustees of the Eurecat Technology Centre and President of the Board of Trustees of Oxfam-Intermón Spain. He sits on the board of various companies and previously spent 23 years as CEO of Simon Holding. He has been a collaborating lecturer at ESADE for more than 25 years.
Salvador Busquets (EDIK’90): Mr Busquets has been Director of Caritas Diocesana de Barcelona since 2014. He previously served as Director of the Arrels Foundation, which works with homeless people. He belongs to various platforms involved in the struggle against social exclusion and is a member of Cristianisme i Justícia.
Ramon Forn (MPT’83): For 16 years, Mr Forn was a managing partner at McKinsey & Company, where he currently holds the title of Director Emeritus. He sits on the board of several companies and is an advisory board member for NGOs and other institutions. He has taught in ESADE’s Department of Strategy and General Management.
Pere Viñolas (Lic&MBA’85): Mr Viñolas has been the CEO of Inmobiliaria Colonial since 2008. In the course of his career, he has served as Deputy General Manager of the Barcelona Stock Exchange and CEO of Riva y García. He has taught in the Department of Finance at ESADE.
