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Segovia, April 10 2008 – Following the acquisition of a Spanish university by the IE Higher Education group in January of 2007, the rollout of IE University has now officially commenced.

The University project has been conceived to provide an academically rigorous but innovative approach to undergraduate and post graduate education, initially focused on disciplines that include architecture, humanities and liberal arts and communication. The institution will be developed around the core values of an international outlook, innovation at the heart of learning, and the utilization of new technologies, imbuing students with an entrepreneurial mindset and a humanitarian spirit.

Why a new model?

The processes of globalization have created pressures and opportunities that require innovative resolutions and solutions. With an ever increasing demand from both business and society for committed, socially aware, change agents the University will help participants to understand the changing demands of the world around them.

Housed in the 15th century Monastery of Santa Cruz la Real, IE university fuses traditional academic disciplines with the highly innovative approaches to management developed at IE Business School. This will provide young scholars with the opportunity to develop their thinking in a highly international environment, working in cross-cultural, diverse teams, to find solutions to the complex questions of the 21st century.

With the expected increase in the number of students seeking higher education programs outside their home countries following the standardization of education systems throughout Europe as part of the Bologna accord, IE University will be positioned to provide a high quality international offering. The aim is to have 70% of students drawn from outside Spain within two years.

How does it function?

Utilizing multi-disciplinary learning methodologies which bring together online and presential formats, the university aims to shape a new model of knowledge dissemination. The focus is on a more open and collaborative style of learning and knowledge creation.

Through the historic buildings of Segovia and the cutting edge online campus, the university has been designed to work within a wider social agenda, seeking to actively participate in and shape major global debates. There will be a single faculty for the entire institution. Faculty for the University and the Business school will operate in an interdisciplinary, cross departmental manner, promoting new models for research and teaching

“We are looking to build a continental Oxford, characterized by academic rigor and quality, whilst remaining focused on solving the issues we see around us today and in the future. With this ambitious project we are seeking to create a new university model, where the professors and knowledge flow amongst the different disciplines, programs and mediums. We will give our students a global vision, creating enterprising, innovative professionals with a strong sense of social awareness. We have felt the demand for this already from companies and individuals, but feel that we can take a more active role in the key discussions in society” commented Santiago Iñiguez, Rector of IE University.

What programs will be offered?

The programs offered by the University have all been designed to comply with the regulations set out in the Bologna Accord. Initial programs will include Bachelor degrees in Communication and Architecture.

For the 2009 academic year Bachelor degrees in Organizational Psychology, Business administration, Business and Law, Law, Law and International relations. There will also be a number of Masters programs in the areas of architecture, communication, psychology, law and humanities. Modules in Management and the Humanities will form a core element of all the degree programs at IE University.

Senior Management Team

Santiago Iñiguez, the highly respected Dean of IE Business School will be taking up the position of Rector of IE University. His tenure as Dean at IE has been marked by the school achieving global recognition for its Management programs, positioning the school as one of Europe’s top business schools. His aim is to leverage the methodologies and capabilities developed at the Business School to help create a new model for higher education in Europe.

A number of other Respected academics from IE Business School will take up a number of key positions; Vice-Rector of faculty, Salvador Carmona, Vice-Rector of research, Gayle Allard and Vice-Rector of administration, Juan Luis Martinez will be key members of the Senior management team.

IE Business School holds 4th position worldwide and 1st in Europe in the annual ranking of MBAs carried out by leading Latin American business journal America Economia.

IE Business School has climbed 8 places this year to consolidate its position as one of the world’s top business schools. In this year’s survey Harvard headed the worldwide ranking, followed by Stanford, Wharton and IE Business School.

The criteria on which the América Economía MBA ranking is based includes the school’s prestige, networking potential, knowledge of the Latin American region, scholarship programs, international agreements and alliances, the return on investment offered by its MBA program and career progression of its graduates.

Gonzalo Garland, Director of External Relations at IE, sees the school’s position in the ranking as a result of IE’s work in the Latin American region over the last three decades. “IE has offices in 8 countries in Latin America that provide support for IE students while serving as a platform for networking among our alumni and for building relations with institutions that play a key role in each country. We are proud that our MBA program has achieved 4th position worldwide and will continue to strive to attract the best candidates and top professors from around the world to meet the demands of the international business community”. This year, the student body of IE Business School’s International MBA program comprises young professionals from 57 countries, making it one of the most diverse MBA environments in the world.

IE Business School is No. 1 in Europe and No. 5 in the world in Executive MBA programs according to the 2008 Financial Times Ranking.

The ranking considers IE’s Executive MBA as one of the best in the world based on criteria that include graduates’ subsequent professional development, fulfilment of participants’ expectations and the international experience offered by the program. The result further consolidates IE’s position as a leading international business school for senior management training programs.

In this year’s edition, authors of the FT ranking based their evaluations on 16 indicators of quality in Executive MBA programs at 96 business schools worldwide, including degree of satisfaction of the student body, career progression and increase in salary, diversity of program faculty, the program’s international projection, the degree to which the program came up to participants’ expectations, and the school’s level of research.

Gonzalo Garland, General Director of External Relations at IE Business School commented that “this is the third consecutive year that our Executive MBA has been ranked 5th in the world, which serves to motivate us to enhance the quality of the programs still further and to keep innovating and building on our internationalisation strategy.”

The IE Business School Executive MBA offers a range of delivery formats designed to meet the demands of different executive profiles. These include weekly or bi-weekly classes, 100% onsite programmes or a blended format, with Spanish and English versions. The International Executive MBA, for example combines online modules with onsite periods in Madrid and Shanghai, and is taught 100% in English. Participants are from 32 countries, all senior managers with a markedly international profile.

IE’s position in this Financial Times ranking is the latest in a series of excellent results obtained by the school in international rankings in 2008. Earlier in the year Financial Times placed the School 3rd in Europe and 8th in the world in MBA programmes, The Economist ranked it 5th in Europe and 10th worldwide, and América Economía positioned the School 4th in the world.

The University inaugurates its first academic year with two new degrees in Architecture and Communication that are fully compliant with the European Higher Education Area (EHEA)

Segovia, 27 September 2008. In his address during the inauguration of the first academic year of the new international university model launched by IE in April of this year, Santiago Iñiguez de Onzoño, Rector of IE University stated that “The university we are building will be one of Europe’s most prestigious centers of learning, in line with the achievements of our business school”.

The Rector described IE University as “A private institution with a public mission: that of educating global citizens, entrepreneurs who are committed to society and have an excellent working knowledge of their fields.” He went on to underscore the fact that IE University’s innovative, market-oriented programs will also equip graduates with a solid grounding in humanities and management, given that “humanities are the binding agent that integrate other knowledge, and the base for shaping individuals in the fullest sense of the word”. Iñiguez de Onzoño also spoke about how behind every good business practice there is a good management practice, which is why IE University graduates’ education will be equivalent to that of an MBA graduate, in that they will be entrepreneurial in their fields, change agents in their profession, and generators of value and social well-being.

After speaking about the University’s two new degree programs in Architecture and Communication launched at the beginning of the academic year, both of which are adapted to the European Higher Education Area, Íñiguez de Onzoño announced that in the next academic year, following the receipt of the pertinent approval, IE University’s Santa Cruz la Real campus is set to launch new degrees in Business Administration, Biology, Law, History of Art, Construction Engineering, Journalism and Audiovisual Communication, Psychology, Tourism Management, and Systems and Technologies. “One of the key features of these new degree programs will be their markedly international slant in terms of content, student profile, Spanish and English versions, strategic alliances and exchanges with leading international universities, and relations with global business organizations and institutions.

The Rector of IE University explained that another of the main pillars on which the university’s programs are based is the use of latest generation learning technologies, including plans to run almost half of some academic courses using high-quality online courses. “This will enable students to combine program attendance with internships in firms and institutions, participation in social initiatives, or the acquisition of third or fourth languages anywhere in the world.”

Iñiguez de Onzoño underlined that one of the main objectives is to attract the best students from around the world to the University. “In order to achieve this, the selection process will include interviews designed to identify the diverse profiles we seek, and which embrace the concept of multiple intelligences. These processes will go beyond traditional entrance exam methods that evaluate analytical intelligence or memory, examining levels of emotional, relational, spatial, artistic, creative intelligence, together with the entrepreneurial spirit, all of which play a pivotal role in professional success.” The Rector also pointed out that students will be selected regardless of their economic situation given that the University has implemented a scholarship system similar to that in place in major US universities.

Iñiguez de Onzoño also spoke about Segovia, the city where the University campus is located. “Segovia is an open city with a historical legacy, unique culture and warm and friendly people, a place where everyone feels at home. IE University wants to contribute to the further cultural and economic development of this marvelous city through the creation of a top-level educational institution that attracts international academics and students who will forge long-lasting personal and business relations between Segovia and countries around the world”.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: ZARYN DENTZEL

The keynote address of the inauguration ceremony was delivered by Zaryn Dentzel, founder and CEO of Tuenti, Spain’s most successful social networking site. Dentzel spoke to IE University students and graduates about the key factors for the success of his company. Dentzel shares the values of IE University: entrepreneurship and innovation. With his talent he has revolutionized social networking in Spain. During his address Dentzel insisted on the importance of accepting failures and learning form mistakes, something that is largely accepted in US universities but not yet widespread in Spain. He underlined the importance of teamwork rather than individualism. “In the end, you are as good as the sum of the members of your team. An entrepreneur will never be successful if he or she does not have a team of highly qualified people who are satisfied with their work.”

Rafael Puyol, President of the IE University Board of Governors, mentioned in his address some comments made by Steve Jobs, founder of Macintosh, in a conference at Stanford University in which he underlined the values that new students should bear in mind as they rise to the challenges that lie ahead. Values like perseverance, a love of what they do, the strength to accept failure and the maturity to assume success. The Secretary General of the University, Roberto Ruiz, presented the annual report for the last academic year. Javier Quintana de Uña, Dean of IE School of Architecture, took part in the presentation of the faculty, and Ana Cristina Sotomayor, an alum from the biology degree program, delivered a brief address on behalf of the students.

IE and Web 2.0

IE University is a pioneering institution in the use of technologies as a key feature of the learning model. This approach is evidenced in the blog www.deanstalk.net led by Rector Santiago Iñiguez de Onzoño, the Dean of Tuck Business School (U.S.), Paul Danos and Financial Times journalist Della Bradshaw, to promote debate in the field of management education. Furthermore, IE blogs (http://ieblogs.ie.edu) are now an international reference for both the business world and academic community. IE blogs received over a million visits in the first semester of 2008, registering an increase of more than 300% over the same period in 2007.

Zaryn Dentzel, founder and CEO of leading Spanish social networking site Tuenti, gave the keynote address to recent graduates and new students at IE University, Segovia, during the inauguration ceremony for the academic year 2008-2009. See video