Rector and CEO (Academic) of Global University Systems, a rapidly expanding education company that operates in the UK, Germany, Canada, Singapore and online. Professor van Rooijen is also the Rector and CEO of the London School of Business and Finance, and Acting Rector of GISMA Business School GmBh, a highly regarded Business School in Hannover, Germany. In addition to these roles, he became Rector of the University of Applied Sciences Europe in 2019. Prior to his appointment at LSBF, Professor van Rooijen was Rector Magnificus and CEO at Nyenrode Business University in the Netherlands. From 1993 to 2009, he was (Executive) Vice-President for international and institutional development at the University of Westminster. He was a.o. president of the Compostela Group of Universities (Santiago de Compostela, Spain) from 2008 until 2016, co-chairman of the World Association for Cooperative Education (Boston, USA) and Vice-President of the European Access Network (London, UK). Professor van Rooijen was awarded the Constance Meldrum Award for Vision and Leadership in 2013 by the European Association for International Education (EAIE).

Following a career in academic administration at the University of Sussex, Hywel joined the European Commission in 1973 where he was appointed Head of the Commission’s first department for education and youth policy.

He then acted as Director of the Commission’s Task Force for education, training, youth and human resources during the 1980s when he was responsible for the conception and launching of the EU’s flagship programmes in education and training: Erasmus, Comett (university/industry collaboration), Lingua and Tempus (engaging the countries of Central and Eastern Europe), as well as the Youth for Europe programme. Hywel then served as a Director General with responsibility for employment, social policy and industrial relations, including the use of the EU’s European Social Fund. 

He currently serves as chair of the Wales Governance Centre at the University of Cardiff, as well as trustee of the Equal Rights Trust (London) and the Federal Trust of education and research. Hywel has several honorary doctorates and is married with two children.

Eager to know more about his experience as one of the Erasmus programme founders? Watch this interview!

Laura Howard has been President (2014-2016) of the European Association for International Education (EAIE), where she has been actively involved since 2006, holding several volunteer leadership positions. She is currently lecturing in the Department of Didactics of Language and Literature of the University of Cadiz – UCA, Spain. Laura has over 15 years’ experience in international relations management, holding several posts within the UCA: Director of European Projects, Director of International Relations and General Director of External Promotion. On a national level, she chaired the Commission for International Promotion which was created within the International Relations Commission of the Spanish Rectors’ Conference from 2008 until 2010, and was part of the initial advisory committee to the Universidad.es Foundation, a public sector foundation for the international promotion of Spanish universities. She is a public speaker and author of articles and papers on many issues related to international higher education. She is one of the authors of the report Internationalisation of Higher Education, prepared for the European Parliament in 2015.

Rich Hudson has been a leading science and technology journalist in Europe for nearly 30 years. Since 2005 he has been CEO and Editor of London- and Brussels-based Science Business Publishing Ltd., a media and communications company focused on research and innovation in Europe. He is also President of the Science|Business Innovation Board AISBL, a not-for-profit ‘think tank’ on innovation policy. Previously, he was with the Wall Street Journal for 25 years, as a reporter and technology editor and, from 1997 to 2003, managing editor of the European edition. He is also co-author of a book, now available in 11 languages, on “fractal” analysis of financial markets with famed Yale/IBM mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot: The (mis)Behavior of Markets: A fractal view of risk, ruin & reward. He is a graduate of Harvard College, a former Knight Fellow at MIT, and he lives in Brussels.   

Chantal Gaemperle is the Group Executive Vice President Human Resources & Synergies, a member of the Executive Committee of LVMH. Prior to joining LVMH in early 2007, she was the Head of Human Resources, Development and Recruitment of Nestlé, member of the Management Committee. Previously (1995-2001), she headed Human Resources for Switzerland in Merrill Lynch International. From 1991 to 1995, she was Recruitment & Human Resources Development Manager with Philip Morris International. She benefits from a wide experience in large companies of various sectors and culture.

Chantal Gaemperle is a graduate from Insead and obtained an MBA in Public Administration and a Master in Political & Social Sciences from the University of Lausanne. She is married and has two children. 

Alf Rehn (1972) is a management professor, an internationally recognized business thinker, an author and a speaker. He is currently holding the Chair of Management and Organization at Åbo Akademi University in Finland. He is a former SSES Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, and has additionally taught at universities all over the globe.

As a business thinker, he has been called an “enfant terrible of organisation studies”. The 2009 Thinkers 50, the listing of the world’s top 50 business thinkers, included him on their “Guru Radar”, ranking him #13 among the “Up and Coming Business Thinkers”. As a business writer, Alf has published a wide range of academic literature, but also a series of books, articles, and columns for a general audience.

Jan Muehlfeit is former Chairman of Microsoft Europe, and he was responsible for representing the Microsoft Corporation and engaging with governments, large corporations, key partners and academic elites both across Europe and on a global level. 

He is Vice-Chairman of the ABiS and board member of the JAYE. He is also a Co-Chairman of the European e-Skills Association and a member of the Board of AIESEC. Jan Muehlfeit has been serving in different advisory boards of several European governments in the field of ICT, national competitiveness and education. He is a member of the executive advisory board of Ovum, part of the Datamonitor Group, and he is involved in an advisory capacity in different projects by WEF, OECD and European Policy Center (EPC). He is also a board member of the Czech National Museum and a member of the IBLF Leaders Council. Over almost two decades, he has received numerous public awards as recognition of his industry and social contributions.

Joseph HH Weiler is President of the European University Institute (EUI). Previously, he served as Professor of Law and Jean Monnet Chair at Harvard Law School and subsequently as Director of the Jean Monnet Center at NYU School of Law. Weiler is  Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of International Law (EJIL) and the International Journal of Constitutional Law (ICON). Weiler is also an Honorary Professor at University College London and the University of Copenhagen, and Co-Director of the Academy of International Trade Law in Macao, China. He holds a Ph.D. in European Law from the EUI, Florence and honorary degrees from numerous European universities.