José María Alarcón Escribano
I was born and raised in Quintanar del Rey, a town outside of Cuenca, Spain. I moved to Cuenca to finish high school and then to Valencia for university, where I earned my Bachelor in Business Administration and Bachelor in Marketing. My passion for learning was the driving force behind my Bachelor in Political Sociology with a focus on International Relations, and my additional degrees in both tourism, mainly to improve my English and French, as well as in art history. I’m currently pursuing a PhD in Politics and International Relations, specifically between the US and China.
“From my point of view, education must be a crucial concern for a community, and it is a country's best engine for economic development and social progress.”
A passion for education
José María began his professional career in an SME export department, traveling overseas in search of new EMEA markets. He later worked in another industrial company and then experienced a turning point in his career when he joined a rural savings bank in Ciudad Real, serving as the international department manager for five years. This opportunity allowed him to meet people from firms of all sizes and from across the world, which later led him to start working at a bank that merged with Banco Santander. Here he served as branch manager and two years later, he moved to Madrid to the international trade department where he is currently developing his professional career as the deputy international trade director.
Describing his journey as one that moved “from theory to practice, from concepts to real challenges,” José María is living a fulfilling life as he truly loves what he does. He feels highly motivated to work hard to help his customers expand their businesses abroad. More than the day-to-day joy he experiences in his role, José María is also fond of the opportunities offered to him at Banco Santander, including an international internship at Bank of Shanghai. His time in China pushed him to consider how other cultures work and behave in order to achieve his goals.
In his constant strive to learn and create lasting change, José María discovered his passion for teaching. Sharing his knowledge with the future leaders of tomorrow is a challenge he’s happily accepted, especially as he knows these professionals will build a new world. To José María, education is a country’s best driving force for economic development and social progress and should be at the top of the list. This belief led him to teach at IE University, specifically due to the international vision and diverse, cosmopolitan campus in Madrid.
As a professor at IE University, José María believes that his purpose is to share his knowledge and experience with his students in order to give them the chance to use their unique world perspectives and wide range of thoughts and ideas to push one another. He considers his experience to be one of the best contributions he can offer the IE Community, but at the same time, loves the chance to continue learning from his students in today’s rapidly changing world. This mutual exchange with talented, young professionals has allowed José María to look at the world with a more positive attitude and an open mind. And in his words, it’s important to have an “attitude for doing your best and for being a lifelong active learner.”
When José María isn’t working or teaching, he enjoys playing badminton, swimming and traveling. But his passion for international relations is never far—he also loves to watch international sporting and political events including the Olympics, NBA games, World Championships of a variety of sports, NATO summits and more. It’s never only about the competition itself, but also about how the events have been organized and their economic, political and social implications worldwide. He also likes that he can use this secret hobby of his to strike riveting conversations in the classroom.
Check out in detail José María Alarcón Escribano's academic and corporate experience
