Jean-Philippe Bonardi and Guido Palazzo are leaving their positions on the HEC Lausanne dean's team on July 31, 2021. Jean-Philippe Bonardi will leave his position as dean to Marianne Schmid-Mast and Guido Palazzo, vice-dean, will hand over the teaching reins to Paul André. The new deanship will take office on August 1, 2021.
Jean-Philippe Bonardi joined the faculty's deanery team as vice-dean in 2012. Three years later, he was named dean and has held this position ever since. Guido Palazzo, meanwhile, joined the deanship as vice dean for teaching in 2018. Together with the rest of the dean's team, they have carried out a number of major projects, including obtaining Equis accreditation for five years, creating the E4S Center with EPFL and IMD, and developing the Executive Education activities. They have contributed to raising the profile of HEC Lausanne and increasing its visibility and reputation locally and internationally.
We asked them 3 questions as a conclusion:
What is the accomplishment you are most proud of during your time in the dean’s office?
JPB: What I am most proud of is the feeling of having created a unity and a common direction within our school. Whether it is with the professors, the administrative teams, the researchers, the students or our external partners, I feel a real convergence in actions and objectives, and I am convinced that this convergence will carry us for a long time to come.
GP: For me, the most important achievement was managing the Covid crisis with my colleagues in the deanship and with my teams in the Master's, Bachelor's and executive education programs.
What did you learn from this experience in the dean's office?
JPB: I learned a lot about the institutions of UNIL and about my colleagues, but I probably learned the most about myself. The rhythm of the dean's office is often intense, and I have often surprised myself (for good or bad!), but all the experiences I have had have given me a lot and made me grow. On a personal level, my 9 years in the dean's office have been a very rich experience.
GP: The work of the PAT teams is unfortunately not very visible to professors who are not themselves involved in a managerial role for the school. During my time on the deanship, I have seen this work and have tremendous respect for our administrative and technical teams.
What will you do during your year of scientific leave?
JPB: I will be fully involved in the E4S Center, which I will co-direct with my colleague Jean-Pierre Danthine. It will be a very different experience with a much more 'start-up' spirit and the challenge of building something over three institutions, but it will certainly be exciting.
GP: I will finally have the time to move forward with two book projects that have been more or less on standby for the last few years.
The entire HEC faculty thanks them for their work on the Dean's Office and wishes them every success in their future projects. We look forward to seeing them in the auditoriums of HEC Lausanne where they will be returning as full professors after their year of scientific leave.
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