On November 23rd, Porto Business School celebrated its 35th anniversary with a commemorative dinner attended by representatives of associate companies and other institutional guests of the University of Porto's business school.
The celebration day featured an official visit from Isabel Schnabel, member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), who congratulated Porto Business School for three and a half decades of exceptional activity: “It's a pleasure to be here to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Porto Business School. Education is the foundation of our society, and it has been great to meet so many motivated students,” remarked Isabel Schnabel.
In addition to reflecting on the successful trajectory of Porto Business School, Isabel Schnabel, member of the ECB's Executive Board, also provided an analysis of monetary policy in the context of inflation, reinforcing the relevance of the role played by the University of Porto's business school in training motivated professionals committed to excellence.
José Esteves, Dean of Porto Business School, shared: “Today, we celebrate 35 years of academic excellence and societal impact. Throughout this journey, Porto Business School has been training business leaders who have contributed to the development of Portugal and the world." Diversity and inclusion were also highlighted themes: "We believe that a diverse and inclusive school is a better school. Therefore, we work to promote an inclusive and respectful learning and working environment across the entire business fabric."
“The future of Porto Business School is promising and we look forward to the opportunities of the future in such relevant business sectors as digital transformation, sustainability, and, naturally, talent. We are committed to solid and strengthened leadership, contributing to a fairer, well-trained, sustainable, and competitive community," he concluded.
2023 Marked the Beginning of a New Management Cycle
In March of this year, José Esteves - with extensive experience in the business and academic sector - took over the leadership of Porto Business School, succeeding Ramon O’Callaghan. The goal of the new management cycle aims at the continuity of consolidated work with a view to an expansion journey, rethinking international positioning and redesigning the school's programs aligned with market needs, talent, and international standards. In this sense, the new executive board, also composed of Patrícia Teixeira Lopes and Luís Garrido Marques, has been innovating in learning methodologies for executive leaders, standing out in the development of fundamental areas such as innovation, sustainability, diversity, inclusion, and entrepreneurship.
Innovation X Hub: Aiming to Capture 1M€ per Year with Knowledge Creation
Recall that, this past month, Porto Business School announced the Innovation eXploration Hub (Innovation X Hub – IXH), a collaborative hub to promote transformative innovation, interdisciplinary co-creation, and positive impact. This hub includes five "Impact Centers" specialized in sustainability, tourism, entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence (AI), and cross-continental development of Africa. It is noted that each center has a management and funding model close to businesses, with the goal of capturing approximately one million euros in total per year.
The Innovation X Hub, comprising the Sustainable Futures Center, Tourism Futures Center, Entrepreneurship Center, AI for Business Center, and Africa Futures Center, meets the urgent need to understand future global trends and strengthen connections between organizations, individuals, entrepreneurs, industry, and academia. Based on business needs, it thus includes activities of knowledge creation, project development and implementation, applied research, design of cutting-edge educational programs, co-creation of innovative solutions for organizations and individuals, advisory services, support, and expertise, and the creation of communities for sharing and disseminating knowledge.
Porto Business School Ranked Among the World's Best
This year, Porto Business School solidified its position in the top 50 of the world's best business schools. Recognized in the Financial Times' Executive Education ranking since 2011, the school advanced to the 34th place, climbing six positions from the previous year and was the only one among the five competing Portuguese schools to improve in both the Open and Custom categories.
Explore some of the best moments here.
