Scientific Council
ESSCA’s Scientific Council is an external committee composed of research directors and scholars recognised for the quality of their research both in France and internationally.
The objective of ESSCA’s Scientific Council is to provide a critical review of the previous year’s academic performance and to put forward to ESSCA’s Governance those scientific orientations it deems appropriate in the light of the School’s strategy and competitive context. This committee not only guarantees the continuous improvement of our activities, but also provides a source of inspiration and legitimacy for our fields of research.
Members of the Scientific Council
Our Scientific Council is made up of 5 permanent members from renowned international higher education institutions. They all have very strong academic credentials.
Professor Alessandra Colombelli
Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Politecnico di Torino (Italy)
Professor Alessandra Colombelli is Head of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Centre (EIC) at the Politecnico di Torino. She is also a Research Associate at CNRS-GREDEG, University of Nice Sophia Antipolis (France), and at BRICK, Collegio Carlo Alberto (Italy). She serves as a Technical Assessor at the I3P incubator. She is also President of the Equal Opportunity Committee (CUG) and a member of the Gender Observatory Working Group. She is also the Scientific Coordinator of the Gender Research Coordination Group (GReG) at the Politecnico di Torino.
A former Marie Curie Fellow at Manchester Business School, she has held research positions at the University Lumière Lyon 2 and the University of Nice Côte d’Azur.
Her research interests span entrepreneurship, innovation economics, and regional economics. She has published widely in leading international journals and contributed to major national and European research projects.
Professor Alain Decrop
Professor of Marketing at the Faculty of Economics, Social Sciences and Management, University of Namur (Belgium)
Professor Decrop has a degree in Modern History and Economics and a PhD in Management Science. He is the director of CeRCLe (Centre de Recherche sur la Consommation et les Loisirs) and co-director of CCMS (Center on Consumers and Marketing Strategy).
His research interests focus on consumer decision making, postmodern consumer phenomena, qualitative methods, and tourism and leisure marketing.
He is the author of many works in these fields, published in several books and in leading scientific international journals. Since May 2019, Alain Decrop is also the 1st vice-president of the French Marketing Association (AFM).
Professor Helen Drake
Professor of French and European Studies and Director of the Institute for Diplomacy and International Governance, Loughborough University London (UK)
Professor Helen Drake is a graduate of Aston University with a PhD in European Studies. She has an international reputation and specialises in contemporary French politics and European studies. Helen was President of the UK’s leading academic association for contemporary European studies (UACES) from 2012 to 2018. Since 2016, Helen has undertaken a series of research projects on the topic of the UK’s departure from the European Union (Brexit).
Her research and professional interests also include French politics and society, EU governance issues, and the history of European studies in the UK.
Among many honours, Helen has been named Chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques, a title awarded by the French government for services to French culture and language.
Professor Michel Magnan
Professor of Management and Accounting, Concordia University (Canada)
Michel Magnan is Professor and Stephen Jarislowsky Chair in Corporate Governance at Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business. He is also a member of the scientific committee of the Desjardins Centre for Innovation in Corporate Finance at Concordia University and a CIRANO Fellow. He holds a PhD in Business Administration from the University of Washington (Seattle). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a Distinguished Member of the “Ordre de l’Excellence en Education du Québec”.
His academic career spans over 30 years. His research and professional interests include financial statement analysis, governance, executive compensation, ethics, corporate social responsibility, and corporate disclosure. He is currently the editor of three journals and serves on several editorial boards. He is currently a consulting editor for Contemporary Accounting Research, having served as its editor-in-chief from 2007 to 2010. He serves on the boards of several organisations.
Professor Maurice Thévenet
Professor of Human Resources Management, Cnam - Professor at the Management Department, ESSEC Business School (France)
A graduate of Essec, with a degree in law and theology, Professor Maurice Thévenet holds a PhD in Management Sciences from Aix-Marseille III University and a Higher Doctorate. He is also Professeur agrégé des universités (Management Sciences, 1991).
Co-founder of Holodis, he is an international consultant to companies regarding management and development of people.
He is the author of numerous books and articles on corporate culture, management and leadership.
A former holder of the HRM chair at the Cnam, Maurice Thévenet was Director of the ESSEC business school and President of the AGRH (Association Francophone de Gestion des Ressources Humaines).