HEC Paris inaugurates its representative office in Berlin and confirms a strategic presence in Germany

Prestigious French school of management HEC Paris is to celebrate on Monday 26 September the opening of its representative office in Germany during an official ceremony at the Embassy of France in Berlin. Those in attendance include Mr Philippe Etienne, France’s Ambassador to Germany, Mr Peter Todd, Dean of HEC Paris, as well as French and German personalities. The ceremony will be followed by a round table entitled: "How to be an entrepreneur on the other side of the Rhine – the Franco-German perspective."

As France’s top French business school and a European leader in the international rankings, HEC Paris’ objective in opening an office in Germany is to mark a milestone in line with its international ambitions. The new representative office located in the premises of the French Institute at the Maison de France on the famous Kurfürstendamm, will be the anchor point from where HEC Paris will develop its reputation in Germany, France’s largest economic partner. From there it will also deepen its relationship with key players in the German economy, including start-ups, large multinational companies, as well as the industrial and export firms part of the Mittelstand.

"Today, in addition to our commitment in the areas of entrepreneurship, innovation, digital transformation and social responsibility, HEC Paris’ success is founded on a very strong international presence. The opening of our Berlin office will allow us to be closer to students, alumni and companies implanted in Germany, a country that is highly strategic for HEC Paris," said Peter Todd, Dean of HEC Paris.

One of the highlights of the event will be the round table. Led by Annette Gerlach, journalist and presenter of television channel Arte, the discussion will illustrate the strong ties between France and Germany and complementarity between the two countries in terms of economic initiatives, development of business trends and the creation of innovative companies. The speakers, both French and German, will relate their experiences and successes on both sides of the Rhine. Panel members are to include Mr Thomas Edig, former deputy CEO of Porsche AG and Director of Human Resources at Volkswagen’s Commercial Vehicles department; Mr John Nicolas, CEO of the start-up Webedia; Mr Andreas Wiele, Chairman of Axel Springer Digital GmbH’s supervisory board and Seloger.com SAS; and Ms. Judith Zimmermann, project manager at Health Focus GmbH.

Founded in 1881 in Paris and located since 1964 on the vast Jouy-en-Josas campus near Versailles at the heart of the scientific and technological cluster of Paris-Saclay, HEC Paris has for decades remained the top management school in France in all national rankings. It enjoys an increasingly strong international reputation, as evidenced by its 64% foreign faculty, 90% of foreign students in the MBA program, its 96 nationalities on campus and 123 academic partners worldwide.

In Germany, HEC Paris is already closely associated with three universities that reinforce its position of excellence: the Freie Universität Berlin (FU), the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the University of Cologne. German citizens represent the third biggest international citizenship among students on the Master in Management at the "Grande Ecole" and the second European citizenship on campus. Germany is also a destination of choice for a growing number of graduates who either begin or continue their careers in the country.

About HEC Paris

Specializing in management education and research, HEC Paris offers a complete and unique range of educational programs for the leaders of tomorrow: Masters programs, Summer School, MBA, PhD, Executive MBA, TRIUM Global Executive MBA, open-enrolment and custom executive education programs.
Founded in 1881 by the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, HEC Paris is a founding member of the Université Paris-Saclay.  It boasts a faculty of 138 full-time professors, more than 4,400 students and over 8,000 managers and executives in training each year.
HEC Paris was ranked second business school in Europe by the Financial Times’ overall business school ranking in December 2015. www.hec.edu
   
Press contact: Julie Dobiecki, +33 1 39 67 94 39, dobiecki@hec.fr