Leadership Programme Speakers
Arnold Boon
University Director, Copenhagen Business School, DK
Arnold Boon is since 2022 the University Director at Copenhagen Business School. He is a strategic leader with solid management skills and experience from higher education and research institutions. He previously was University Director and member of the Senior Management Team at Aarhus University. He is responsible for the University administration, including finance, HR, it and digital transformation, student administration, research support and compliance. He is also responsible for real estate and campus development at the university. He has more than 18 years of experience with financial management and a wide experience in leading major change projects, digital transformation, continuous process improvement and organisational changes. He has an extensive network in higher education in Denmark and in Europe.
Earlier positions include Faculty Director at the University of Copenhagen at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences (2006-2015), Chief Financial Officer at the Danish Institute of Food and Veterinary Research (2004-2006), Head of Budget department at the Danish Agency for Food, Fisheries and Agri business (2002-2004), Executive Officer at the Danish Agency for Food Fisheries and Agri business (2000-2002), Executive Officer at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences (1999-2000) and Researcher at the Danish Institute of Agricultural and Fisheries Economics (1991-1998).
Ákos Domahidi
Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, Óbuda University, HU
Ákos Domahidi is a Hungarian lawyer, born in Romania and educated in both Budapest and Germany. He holds an MBA from Durham University and a specialized degree in change management with a focus on digital transformation from Berkeley University. Over the course of more than 15 years, Ákos has built a distinguished career in higher education management, serving as chancellor, CFO, and COO at three different universities.
Currently, Ákos is the Chief Financial and Administrative Officer at Óbuda University, one of Hungary’s youngest and most innovative technical universities. In this role, he is responsible for financial management, human resources, facilities, and infrastructure. His primary focus is on streamlining administrative processes, improving operational efficiency, and enhancing the overall functioning of the university.
Ákos’s leadership is guided by three core principles: efficient operation, diversified funding, and sustainable development. Throughout his career, he has successfully led organizational transformations, introduced innovative administrative solutions, and contributed to the significant growth and modernization of different universities.
His ongoing mission is to ensure that Óbuda University remains at the forefront of Hungarian higher education and achieves increasing recognition on the international stage.
Harry Garretsen
Professor of International Economics & Business; Director ‘In the LEAD’, University of Groningen, NL
Harry Garretsen has been Professor of International Economics & Business at UoG since 2008. Together with Janka Stoker. he co-directs the expertise center ‘In the LEAD” on leadership (https://www.rug.nl/inthelead/).
From 2011-2016 he served as dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business of UoG. Alongside a long academic career, which also includes a position at the University of Cambridge and earlier professorial appointments at Radboud University Nijmegen and Utrecht University, he has always been actively concerned with economic policy and policy advice. He worked for instance at the Dutch central bank and was a crown-member of the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER).
Nicola Owen
Registrar, Secretary and Chief Operating Officer, University of Birmingham, UK
Nicola joined the University of Birmingham as Registrar, Secretary and Chief Operating Officer in September 2025. She has over 30 years’ experience of management in Higher Education. Following undergraduate and postgraduate study in politics, she held a range of management posts initially at the University of East Anglia from 1995, moving to the University of Warwick in 2001 where she held a number of senior posts, including Academic Registrar (2007-2010), Deputy Registrar (2010-2013). She then moved to Lancaster University as Chief Administrative Officer, becoming the Deputy Chief Executive (Operations) and Secretary in 2020.
Nicola has held a number of roles in support of the HE sector’s development, with 10 years on the Executive Committee of the UK Association of Heads of University Administration, which she has Chaired from 2020, and on national groups and initiatives, including for UUK and CUC. She gave evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee on the operation of the Office for Students and was on the Jisc Audit Committee (2014-2020) and JISC DQB Oversight Committee (2020-2024). Nicola is a EMCC Accredited qualified Coach and Team Coach and contributes regularly to conferences and development programmes in the sector.
Andrea Silvestri
General Director, University of Turin, IT
Since 2021 Andrea Silvestri is the General Director of the University of Turin, the third in Italy by size, with 82,000 students and 4,500 staff.
As the University General Director, he is responsible for the overall organization and management of the services, leading the University staff, and managing the University infrastructures and financial resources.
Prior to joining the University of Turin, Andrea developed his professional career in the consultancy sector, in the mega events organisation (Olympic Winter Games) and in the philanthropic institutions, with different roles in Italian and European organisations.
He has been part of the governance of the European association of foundations (Philea, formerly EFC) and is currently a member of the Supervisory Board at the European Cultural Foundation.
Sarah Smith
Advanced Executive Coach & Leadership Development Adviser, UK
Sarah is an experienced senior leader, advanced executive coach and leadership development adviser with particular experience in strategy, governance, change and people development.
Recent senior leadership roles in the University of Edinburgh include: Vice-Principal Strategic Change & Governance and University Secretary; and Vice-Principal Leadership Development.
Before that she was a senior policy civil servant working in Scottish Government, including as Director of Strategy and Director of Learning; and in the UK Government, including on international development and international negotiations.
Her leadership development work draws from this breadth of experience as well as her own research and learning, including a recent Masters in systems psychodynamics and change at INSEAD.
Janka Stoker
Professor of Leadership and Organisational Change, Director centre of expertise ‘In the LEAD‘, University of Groningen, NL
Since 2003, Janka Stoker is a full professor of Leadership and Organisational Change at the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen (The Netherlands), where she is also co-director of research centre In the LEAD. She is an internationally recognised expert on leadership whose work combines excellence in scientific research with demonstrable societal impact. With a background in Social and Industrial/Organisational Psychology and a PhD in Business Studies, she has consistently integrated rigorous academic inquiry with organisational practice, ensuring that her research is informed by real-world leadership challenges.
Her scholarly work centres on one overarching theme: understanding what makes leadership effective in context. This focus has led to widely cited publications on leadership in times of crises, power and gender, as well as several books including the recent one she wrote together with Harry Garretsen, ‘Leadership in a turbulent era’ (2025).
In addition to her academic profile, she has held significant leadership and governance roles. She has served as vice-dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Groningen, as a member of the Board of the University of Twente, and as a board member of the Godschmeding Foundation. Her contributions are further recognised through membership of the KHMW and her role as an academic partner of the CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis. Her experience also includes more than a decade as a senior managing consultant at Berenschot and research collaborations with organisations such as Ahold, the Dutch Central Bank (DNB), Randstad and several Dutch Ministries.
Within the HUMANE Leadership Programme, she brings together academic excellence, societal relevance and direct leadership experience to support senior university professionals in strengthening their leadership for the evolving higher education landscape.
Stephan Van Galen
HUMANE Board Member; Secretary General, University of Groningen, NL
Dr. Stephan van Galen has been the Secretary-General of the University of Groningen since September 2015. He is secretary to the Executive Board (President, Rector Magnificus, and Vice President), the College of Deans, and the Supervisory Board. In his role as director he is responsible for all University Services departments, excluding the library and IT. He is responsible for 750 FTE.
The University of Groningen has 7,000 FTE staff, 37,000 students and a budget of 900M Euro. He started his career in 2000 as a senior policy officer at the Association of Universities in The Netherlands (VSNU). In 2003 he became General Secretary of the Accreditation Organization of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO), where he was director for strategy and administration.
Stephan read Imperial History at King’s College London and continued his studies at Leiden University and the School of Oriental and African Studies. The title of his 2008 Leiden PhD thesis was ‘Arakan and Bengal. The rise and decline of the Mrauk U kingdom (Burma) between 1500-1700’.
Since 2024, Stephan is a Board Member of HUMANE.
Koen Verlaeckt
Secretary-General VLIR, Flemish Inter University Council and NEWLEAD partner, BE
Koen Verlaeckt was born in 1966 in Dendermonde, Belgium. He obtained his university degree in history and his Ph.D. degree in archaeology at the University of Ghent.
In 1997 he joined the Flemish Science and Innovation administration as a senior researcher, since 2003 as head of the Technology and Innovation Division. In 2006-2007 Koen was Head of Cabinet and senior advisor for science and innovation policy.
Between 21 April 2008 and 31 March 2018 he headed the Flanders Department of Foreign Affairs as Secretary General. As of 1 April 2018 Koen leads the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR) as Secretary General.
Leadership Programme Team
Arnold Boon
University Director, Copenhagen Business School, DK
Arnold Boon is since 2022 the University Director at Copenhagen Business School. He is a strategic leader with solid management skills and experience from higher education and research institutions. He previously was University Director and member of the Senior Management Team at Aarhus University. He is responsible for the University administration, including finance, HR, it and digital transformation, student administration, research support and compliance. He is also responsible for real estate and campus development at the university. He has more than 18 years of experience with financial management and a wide experience in leading major change projects, digital transformation, continuous process improvement and organisational changes. He has an extensive network in higher education in Denmark and in Europe.
Earlier positions include Faculty Director at the University of Copenhagen at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences (2006-2015), Chief Financial Officer at the Danish Institute of Food and Veterinary Research (2004-2006), Head of Budget department at the Danish Agency for Food, Fisheries and Agri business (2002-2004), Executive Officer at the Danish Agency for Food Fisheries and Agri business (2000-2002), Executive Officer at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences (1999-2000) and Researcher at the Danish Institute of Agricultural and Fisheries Economics (1991-1998).
Nadine Burquel
Director General, HUMANE, BE
Nadine is the Director General of HUMANE. She works closely with the Chair and the governing bodies on HUMANE’s strategic developments. She manages the HUMANE Office to offer the membership an attractive portfolio of professional development and networking activities. She has been involved with HUMANE since its foundation in the mid-nineties, until December 2022 as Executive Director of the three residential schools (the Barcelona Winter School, the Berlin Summer School and the Asia School).
Nadine has extensive director level experience, having worked with multiple international non-profit organisations, university networks and international boards. She has wide knowledge of leadership, governance and management in higher education institutions, and the global trends in the higher education sector. As EFMD Director of Business School Services she was responsible for a wide portfolio of large global events and communities of practices, interacting with business schools and universities in the wider Europe, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, the Gulf, as well as North and South America. More recently in Maastricht University she was strategic adviser to the leadership of the School of Business and Economics, advising on international accreditation, the internationalisation strategy, and delivering societal impact.
She has significant experience with EU (higher) education policy and programmes since the early days of the Erasmus programme. She has a strong track record of EU projects, leading large EU-funded European university networks and providing technical assistance to the European Commission. She is high level EU policy expert, working at system level in Brussels and beyond, carrying out capacity building and evaluations of EU interventions, having worked with EU Delegations in many countries.
Esa Hämäläinen
Director of Administration and the Secretary General of the Board, University of Helsinki, FI
Esa Hämäläinen is currently the Director of Administration and the Secretary General of the Board at the University of Helsinki. He began his career in 1989 in student politics at the Helsinki University Student Union and continued it in various administrative roles at the University of Art and Design Helsinki.
Since 1998 he worked at the University of Helsinki as research policy advisor, evaluation coordinator and director of central services. He is specialised in higher education and research policy, evaluation processes, service development and organisational changes.
From 2008 till 2011 he was the Director of Administration at the Theatre Academy Helsinki and led the change from state agency to an autonomous university under public law.
At the University of Helsinki he has led major change process for balancing university finances and also the reorganisation and consolidation of university services. He sits in the Board of Directors of service companies and is the former Chair of HUMANE.
Nicola Owen
Registrar, Secretary and Chief Operating Officer, UK
Nicola joined Birmingham as Registrar, Secretary and Chief Operating Officer in September 2025. She has over 30 years’ experience of management in Higher Education. Following undergraduate and postgraduate study in politics, she held a range of management posts initially at the University of East Anglia from 1995, moving to the University of Warwick in 2001 where she held a number of senior posts, including Academic Registrar (2007-2010), Deputy Registrar (2010-2013). She then moved to Lancaster University as Chief Administrative Officer, becoming the Deputy Chief Executive (Operations) and Secretary in 2020.
Nicola has held a number of roles in support of the HE sector’s development, with 10 years on the Executive Committee of the UK Association of Heads of University Administration, which she has Chaired from 2020, and on national groups and initiatives, including for UUK and CUC. She gave evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee on the operation of the Office for Students and was on the Jisc Audit Committee (2014-2020) and JISC DQB Oversight Committee (2020-2024). Nicola is a EMCC Accredited qualified Coach and Team Coach and contributes regularly to conferences and development programmes in the sector.
Andrea Silvestri
General Director, University of Turin, IT
Since 2021 Andrea Silvestri is the General Director of the University of Turin, the third in Italy by size, with 82,000 students and 4,500 staff.
As the University General Director, he is responsible for the overall organization and management of the services, leading the University staff, and managing the University infrastructures and financial resources.
Prior to joining the University of Turin, Andrea developed his professional career in the consultancy sector, in the mega events organisation (Olympic Winter Games) and in the philanthropic institutions, with different roles in Italian and European organisations.
He has been part of the governance of the European association of foundations (Philea, formerly EFC) and is currently a member of the Supervisory Board at the European Cultural Foundation.
Stephan Van Galen
HUMANE Board Member; Secretary General, University of Groningen, NL
Dr. Stephan van Galen has been the Secretary-General of the University of Groningen since September 2015. He is secretary to the Executive Board (President, Rector Magnificus, and Vice President), the College of Deans, and the Supervisory Board. In his role as director he is responsible for all University Services departments, excluding the library and IT. He is responsible for 750 FTE.
The University of Groningen has 7,000 FTE staff, 37,000 students and a budget of 900M Euro. He started his career in 2000 as a senior policy officer at the Association of Universities in The Netherlands (VSNU). In 2003 he became General Secretary of the Accreditation Organization of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO), where he was director for strategy and administration.
Stephan read Imperial History at King’s College London and continued his studies at Leiden University and the School of Oriental and African Studies. The title of his 2008 Leiden PhD thesis was ‘Arakan and Bengal. The rise and decline of the Mrauk U kingdom (Burma) between 1500-1700’.
Since 2024, Stephan is a Board Member of HUMANE.