05 October 2016
Bilbao Campus
Deusto Business Alumni presented issue 218 of the Economic Studies Newsletter last October 5th, under the title "Economy and Future". This issue has been released in honour of Deusto Business School’s first 100 years and includes articles by: Joaquín Almunia, José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, Alfredo Sáenz, Pedro Luis Uriarte, Javier Hernani, Luis Abril, José Luis Sanchis, Matías Alonso and Amado Franco.
In the presentation, the chairman of Deusto Business Alumni - Alumni DBA, Agustín Garmendía, stated that “throughout 2016, Deusto Business Alumni, with more than 7,000 members, is playing a large role in the commemorative events of la Comercial’s centenary and the 60th anniversary of the Este, faculties which merged into one to become today’s Deusto Business School, in 2009.”
Garmendia talked about the origin of the faculty: “100 years ago, Pedro de Icaza and Aguirre, following the wishes of his uncles Pedro and Domingo de Aguirre, created the Vizcaina Aguirre Foundation in June 1916 and reached an agreement with the Jesuit Father Luis Chalbaud for the creation of the Commercial University of Deusto, which was inaugurated in October 1916, becoming the first business school in Spain.
The DBA chairman also commented that “60 years ago, the Higher School of Business Technicians (ESTE) was founded by a group of pioneers led by the Jesuit Father Ignacio Errandonea. The school began in 1956 in Brunet Enea (San Sebastian) and moved to its current location in Mundaiz in 1965. Finally, in 1979, it became a part of the University of Deusto.”
Agustin Garmendia’s speech was a reminder of the words offered by the Rector of the University of Deusto, Jose Maria Guibert, during the centenary events when he pointed out that “now, we are also facing new challenges, and they too are local and global. Yearly recognition of Deusto's quality education in the main rankings in Spain is no longer enough. It is necessary to gain international renown, to compete with other global business schools, just as our companies and students compete on global markets. Challenges are changing, but the values we share are not. For this reason, it is highly meaningful to celebrate these values, because the same ones that served us then continue to serve us now ".
The Dean of Deusto Business School, Guillermo Dorronsoro, also recalled the main values of Deusto Business School, drawn from the tradition of the Society of Jesus: professional excellence, integrity and ethical commitment, cooperation and solidarity, openness and diversity, innovation and entrepreneurship.
For these reasons The Economic Studies Newsletter, published by the association of former business students of the University of Deusto, Deusto Business Alumni - Alumni DBA, took part in this special tribute. Published uninterruptedly since 1942, this special and monographic issue includes contributions from prominent Deusto Business School alumni.
In closing, Fernando Gómez- Bezares talked about the new issue and the topics it covers, giving a brief summary of the articles included, “we are immersed in an environment of great confusion, uncertainty and change, both politically (the referendum on Brexit in the United Kingdom, second general elections in Spain that announce a complex and divided political map, the presidential elections in the US ,…), as well as on the economic level (without a clear route to exit the severe economic crisis that we have been experiencing since 2008, with dramatic declines in the prices of raw materials and oil, enormous uncertainty in emerging countries such as China, Brazil, Russia, Turkey…, and the European Union’s failure to solve its serious homogeneity problems and attain a common vision,…), and on the social level (alarming inability to tackle the plight of refugees in Europe, the rise of populism regarding social problems that are not being addressed,…). And all of the above combined with impressive technological innovations in the Internet, digitalization, the expansion of social networks…, which are changing most companies’ business models”.
He closed by saying that “all these contributions from our colleagues, from their privileged vantage points, will bring reflections, contrasts and opinions of great interest which will certainly be greatly appreciated by the readers of this monographic issue of the Economic Studies Newsletter”.
