Barcelona Winter School - 2022 Speakers

Winter School Speakers

Oriol Amat

Professor of Financial Economics and Former Rector, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, ES

Oriol Amat studied at Autonomous University of Barcelona (PhD in Business Administration and Bachelor’s degree in the same speciality), at ESADE (Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and MBA) and at the Stockholm School of Economics (International Teachers Programme). He has had visiting appointments at international universities, such as Linköping University (Sweden), Massey University (New Zealand), Université de Montpellier (France) and Diego Portales University (Chile).

As a professor at UPF since 1992, he has always been interested in the four main dimensions of academic life: research, knowledge transfer, teaching and management.

His lines of research include the analysis of the success factors of organisations, transformation processes and the ethical aspects of finance. He has directed more than fifteen theses and is the author of scientific articles and more than forty books. Some of his books have been translated into several languages (French, English, Portuguese…). He also collaborates and is a member of the editorial board of several international scientific publications.

In the field of service in higher education, he has had different responsibilities at UPF. He has been rector of UPF (2021-2023), dean of the UPF Barcelona School of Management (2018-2021), director of the Department of Economics and Business (2003-2005), vice-rector for Economics, Information Systems and Services (1997-2001) and, specifically in the teaching field, he was director of the Centre for Teaching Quality and Innovation (2006-2011).

Llorenç Bagur

Dean, UPF Barcelona School of Management, ES

Llorenç Bagur Femenías has a degree in Economics from the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), a PhD in Business Studies from the University of Barcelona (UB) and a Master’s degree in Accounting and Financial Management from the UPF-BSM.

He is currently the Dean of the UPF Barcelona School of Management, Associate Professor BSM, co-director of the Master in Business Accounting and Financial Management and Lecturer of different programs at the UPF Barcelona School of Management.

He is the author of different books and articles, both professional and academic, some of them published in leading international JCR research journals.

He has participated as a speaker in different Master’s programs at European and Latin American universities.
He regularly collaborates on projects, both with public administrations and private companies, advising companies on accounting, financial and management issues.

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 organizational 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).

Paul Greatrix

Registrar, University of Nottingham, UK

Dr Paul Greatrix is Registrar at the University of Nottingham, a post he was appointed to in January 2007. Prior to this he was Deputy Registrar at the University of Warwick. Earlier positions at Warwick included Director of Student and Ancillary Services, Acting Registrar, Interim Director of the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth and Senior Assistant Registrar with responsibility for quality issues. Before joining Warwick in 1998 he was at the University of East Anglia for six years, where he also worked on quality matters, and Staffordshire University.

As Registrar he is responsible to the Vice-Chancellor for the academic administration of the University. As well as being Secretary to the statutory bodies of the University and a member of University Executive Board, the Registrar manages the provision of a broad range of professional services for prospective students, current students and staff.

He was chair of the HUMANE Round Table for a period before being elected to the HUMANE Executive Committee in 2021.

Paul read English Language at the University of Edinburgh, and holds a PhD from the School of Education at the University of East Anglia.

Until recently he blogged regularly for Wonkhe as Registrarism but continues to produce a podcast ‘University Registrars Talking About Stuff.’

Nigel Healey

Vice President Global and Community Engagement, University of Limerick, IE

Dr Nigel Healey is Professor of International Higher Education and Vice-President Global and Community Relations at the University of Limerick in Ireland. Prior to joining the University of Limerick in 2020, he was Vice Chancellor of Fiji National University. He has also served as Pro-Vice Chancellor (International) at Nottingham Trent University and the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and has been a vising professor at universities in Belarus, China, Poland, and the United States.

Professor Healey has a strong commitment to internationalisation and to putting internationalisation at the heart of the student experience. He is the Chair of the Irish Universities’ Association (IUA) Vice Presidents’ International Committee for 2023. He is also a Member of the Board of Governors of De Montfort University (Kazakhstan) and the European Reform University Alliance Advisory Board and Chair of the QS Global Advisory Committee. He has previously served terms as a Council Member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities and a Trustee of UKCISA and was Jean Monnet Chair at the University of Leicester. His research interests are in the internationalisation of higher education, and particularly the management of transnational education partnerships.

Cécile O’Brien

Deputy General Director, Responsible for support services, La Rochelle Université, FR

Cécile O’Brien is Deputy General Director in charge of support services (HR, finances, property management, IT, security and hygiene, legal affairs and sustainable development) at La Rochelle Université since 2021.

Before that, she worked for three years as Chief of Staff to the Rector and his vice-presidents, helping through the implementation of a new model of university and to strategic calls for projects such as the European University EU-CONEXUS and for two years on the development of socio-economic partnerships.

She also has experience in the private sector, including medico-social services and management consulting, with a particular emphasis on project management in complex environments.

Britta Piel

Head of Unit and Deputy Director, Centre for International Cooperation, Freie Universität Berlin, DE

Britta Piel is Head of Freie Universität Berlin’s (FUB) Centre for International Cooperation, a unit within the International Office focusing on strategic internationalisation, and Deputy Director of the International Office. Her tasks include advancing the university’s internationalisation strategy, managing the university’s network of liaison offices worldwide, and initiating new cooperation formats. Managing a diverse team across four continents, she can rely on almost twenty years of experience in different higher education institutions. Her interest in team development and organisational psychology prompted her to seek out further education in this field and to work as a humour trainer for national and international audiences.

Britta holds a Master’s degree in American Studies from Saint Louis University, USA, and a Certificate in Management and Leadership from the University of Hamburg. She also finished two years of training at Clownlabor Berlin e.V. and is a certified trainer for the foundation “Humor Hilft Heilen” in Germany.

Karen Stanton

Vice-Chancellor, Solent University, UK

Professor Karen Stanton joined Solent at the start of February 2020, from her role as Vice-Chancellor at York St John University. Prior to that, Professor Stanton was Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Glasgow Caledonian University and has also held positions at King’s College London and at the Universities of Nottingham, Birmingham and Sheffield Hallam.

Her previous areas of responsibility have included Director of the Centre for e-Research, a 4* rated research team based at King’s College London, responsibility for GCU’s overseas campuses in New York, Oman and Bangladesh and as a member of the United Nations Alliance-UK. She was Chair of the Cathedral’s Group and Vice Chair of GuildHE until December 2019. Prior to her academic career Professor Stanton worked as a researcher for the BBC and the Home Office.

Professor Stanton has over 20 years of academic leadership experience having dedicated her career to enhancing and advancing life and career opportunities through education, with a particular commitment to widening access and support for all. She is Chair of Southampton Connect.

David Sweeney

Professor of practice in research policy, University of Birmingham, UK

David Sweeney is Professor of Research Policy at the University of Birmingham. Previously he was the founding Executive Chair of Research England, the agency responsible for creating and sustaining the conditions for a healthy and dynamic research and knowledge exchange system in English universities.

After gaining First Class Honours in Statistics at the University of Aberdeen, David worked at two BBSRC research institutes, firstly as a consultant statistician, and then developing mathematical models of plant growth. His work on the computational aspects of this led into broader applications of IT in education and research, and he was Director of Information Services at Royal Holloway, University of London, before moving into university leadership as Vice-Principal (Communications, Enterprise and Research) in 2004. In this role he was responsible for research strategy and for developing Royal Holloway’s research-led commercial and consultancy activities.

He joined HEFCE in 2008 as Director (Research, Innovation and Skills) and led the development and implementation of the first Research Excellence Framework including the new impact agenda element. He was also responsible for REF2021.

At HEFCE and Research England he was responsible for research policy and funding, knowledge exchange and university/business relations. David has been invited to visit many countries to advise on open access and on research assessment and funding, particularly with respect to research impact. At UK Research & Innovation he was champion for Place and Levelling up, and also (jointly) Open Science and Commercialisation.

David was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Aberdeen in 2012, was Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Newcastle, NSW in 2015 and is a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society.

Daniela Trani

Former YUFE Alliance Director, Maastricht University, NL

Dr Daniela Trani (1978) is the former Director of the Young Universities for the Future of Europe (YUFE) Alliance since August 2019. Dr Trani has been one of the main developers of the YUFE Erasmus+ proposals selected by the European Commission for both the first phase pilot (2019) as well as the second phase of the European Universities Initiatives (2022). In both calls, the YUFE Alliance has been the top-scoring consortium and in only three years of activity has built a diverse and multifaceted project portfolio that is allowing the partnership to achieve their joint vision and ambition in all missions (education, research and innovation, service to society).

Daniela holds an MSc degree in Physics (cum laude, 2003) from the University of Naples Federico II, Italy, and a PhD in Thoracic Oncology and Applied Biotechnology (2007) from the Second University of Naples, Italy. During her doctoral training, she was a visiting scholar at Temple University (2004-2008), and after that she worked as NASA/NSBRI postdoctoral fellow in the field of space radiation biology at Georgetown University (2008-2011). After working as senior researcher at the Department of Radiotherapy at Maastricht University (2011-2014), she switched to academic policy and strategy as Senior Advisor to the Executive Board of Maastricht University in 2014.

David Vannozzi

CEO, Italian national supercomputing Interuniversity Consortium (CINECA)

Born in Florence in 1968, David Vannozzi is the CEO of the Italian national supercomputing Interuniversity Consortium CINECA. Over the years, after several managerial experiences at Deloitte Consulting and Arthur Andersen, he has been appointed General Manager at the Industrial Association of Brescia and at the Sant’AnnaSchool of Advanced Studies of Pisa, as well as Administrative Director at Health Authority of Florence. Moreover, he took on different roles in public and private companies as Board of Auditors, member of the Board of Directors and member of the Board of Evaluation.

After having obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Business at the University of Florence with a dissertation in General and Applied Accounting, he attended several high-level training courses of Top Management, in Italy and abroad. He has been short-term lecturer of Statistics and Business Management. He is also author of several different articles published in Italian newspapers and specialised magazines, especially in business management, management of change and project management.

Over the years, he gained several experiences in project management, management of change, business process reengineering, lean management & six sigma. Working in the public sector for over 10 years, he has developed a specific competence in managing the relations with the local bodies and central institutions (Ministries) and with the press.

HUMANE Panel

Nadine Burquel

Winter School Director and Director General of HUMANE

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.

Rodrigo Cetina Presuel

Associate Dean for Education and Academic Affairs & Senior Lecturer in Law and Public Policy, UPF Barcelona School of Management, ES

Rodrigo Cetina Presuel is Associate Dean for Education and Academic Affairs, the Coordinator of the Master in Public and Social Policies and a Senior Lecturer at the the Barcelona School of Management at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF-BSM). He holds a PhD in Communication Law and Policy from the Complutense University of Madrid, and a Master’s in International Law from IEB/ISDE as well as a Bachelor´s degree in Law.

Before joining UPF-BSM he was a Researcher at the Institute for Global Law and Policy at Harvard Law School and served as Executive Director of the RCC at Harvard University. He has held several international faculty, research, and teaching positions, among others at Harvard University, New York University (NYU), Emerson College, Lasell University, and at the City University of New York (CUNY).

Rodrigo conducts research related to freedom of expression and communication rights, particularly into how private entities are shaping the digital public sphere through the policies that govern social platforms and the methods and practices they use to enforce these policies, including the use of artificial intelligence, human moderators, and lobbying. He also explores the interactions between private entities that regulate speech and how governments are responding to the challenges of regulating expression and content as well as policies and practices related to surveillance, privacy and the use of personal data and the enforcement or regulation aimed at protecting fundamental rights online.

He has recently published two volumes, the Handbook of Communication Rights, Law and Ethics (Wiley, 2021) and Blockchain, Fintech and the Law (Tirant lo Blanch, 2022).