09 February 2007
Others
In drawing up this important project for the future of the University of Deusto, the main focus will lie on the creation of a Business School ('Deusto Business School'), aimed at the development of a broad range of postgraduate degrees. This project was first started by the Faculty of Economics and Business Studies - La Comercial, and was later adopted by ESTE faculty in San Sebastian. Then, the management model and organisation of the School and the Area were dealt with.
At the end of 2005, the final project was approved by the Boards of Directors and Governors as a strategic project in which both Faculties of Business Studies are involved.
Then, the process to appoint the person responsible for running this project was set in motion, which was completed in summer 2006 with the appointment of Ramón O'Callaghan, from Tilburg University (the Netherlands).
During the first term of the current 2006-7 academic year, and until he takes up his post at this University, Professor O?Callaghan has been devising a postgraduate portfolio with the teams from both Faculties.
In the next few months, Profesor O'Callaghan, along with the teams from both faculties, will work out a first strategic plan, of which the university community will be informed.
The development of this ambitious and exciting plan is a great challenge for the Business Studies Area, an exponent of the UD's pioneering tradition; and it is also a great challenge for the University as a whole, in so far as it aims to achieve academic excellence and consequently, an outstanding position within the new European Higher Education Area.
Ramón O'Callaghan is Professor of Information Systems and Management (since 1997), and Director of the MA in Business Administration and Management programmes at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Tilburg University (Holland). In addition, he has been Associate Dean of the international programmes at TiasNimbas Business School at this same university, and director of the Executive MBA international programme (1997-2001). This is a joint programme with Purdue University in USA. Formerly, he was professor at Nyenrode Universiteit, Holland (1994-1997), professor at IESE (1988-1993), and researcher at Harvard Business School (1984-1988).
He has been thesis supervisor and member of the examining boards for doctoral theses at the following universities: Aalborg (Denmark), Cape Town (South Africa), Cork (Ireland), Hohenheim (Germany), Lovaina (Belgium), Sussex (Great Britain), Tilburg (Holland), and Turku (Finland).
He has worked in executive training, research and consultancy projects for European and American organisations (ABN-Amro, Aegon, BUPA, Chubb, European Commission, Danisco, Eureko, Fortis, IBM, Independent Insurance Agents of America, ING, KPMG, Philips, Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, Shell, and UBS, among others).
He has also taught executive training programmes at: ESC Rouen (France), INSEAD (France), London Business School (Great Britain), MIT Sloan School of Management (USA), Nile University (Egypt), Purdue University (USA), Solvay Business School, Open University of Brussels (Belgium), and Vlerick Business School, the Business School at Gante and Lovaina universities (Belgium).
Ramon O'Callaghan holds a PhD in Business Administration and Management from Harvard Business School (1989), an MBA from IESE (1983), and a a MSc and BSc in Telecommunications Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalunya (1976).
