Mathias Falkenstein has over 20 years of experience in higher education management and consulting universities and business schools around the world in designing and implementing institutional change, with particular focus on issues of sustainability and responsibility; quality management and internationalization. Mathias founded the Higher Education Management Group, a Berlin-based consultancy and he currently serves as Executive Policy Advisor at LUISS Business School, LUISS University (Italy). He is a member of the EAIE General Council and also chairs various advisory boards of business schools and universities.

Mathias’ previous professional assignments include Director of Business School Services EFMD and Director of International Relations at IÉSEG School of Management in Paris & Lille. He previously was Director of FUBiS, the International Summer University at the Free University in Berlin and started his career in higher education as a Program Officer at the North American headquarters of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in New York. Mathias holds a DBA in Higher Education Management from the University of Bath (UK), where he is a research fellow at the International Centre for Higher Education Management (ICHEM).

Within XOLAS, Mathias advises clients in their strategic repositioning, quality management, internationalization, and the expansion of sustainability & responsibility coverage. He also contributes to the development of knowledge, training and intelligence solutions.

Ulrich Hommel is an internationally recognized expert of accreditation, quality management, risk management and strategic leadership in higher education, and a prolific writer on business school topics. He has served in various leadership capacities at EFMD over a period of more than 12 years, including Director of Quality Services, Director of Business School Development and Director of Research & Surveys.

Ulrich has completed more than 20 years of service as Professor of Finance at EBS University & Law in Wiesbaden (Germany), which included appointments as Dean, Rector and Managing Director. His academic research focuses on risk management, restructuring and entrepreneurial financing, all topics that mirror his interests in higher education. Ulrich holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and has been awarded a Dr. habil in Business Administration by WHU.

Within XOLAS, Ulrich contributes particularly to the creation of knowledge and intelligence solutions and helps business schools to enhance their risk management capabilities; he develops restructuring solutions for clients and spearheads the development of XOLAS’ financial advisory capabilities.

Benjamin Stévenin is a data management expert with more than 10 years of experience in higher education. He is the CEO of RimaOne, a software solutions provider for the finance and higher education sector. Benjamin is the co-creator of ACADEM, a data management solution to assist business schools with the management of their faculties, research and accreditation processes; ACADEM has so far been adopted by more than 150 institutions globally, many of them holding multiple international accreditations.

Benjamin is a “business builder” that has created a number of other companies before launching RimaOne and co-founding XOLAS. He frequently engages with his clients on strategic issues related to the use of data in strategy and quality management. He speaks regularly at international conferences and has co-developed training programs related to smart data and quality management with one of the leading international accreditation bodies.

Benjamin is the co-creator of ACADEM, Benjamin has more than 10 years of experience in higher education and the work with his clients regularly includes strategic issues related to quality management. Benjamin speaks regularly at international conferences

Within XOLAS, Benjamin spearheads the development of intelligence solutions and advises clients on the implementation of smart data management in support of quality enhancement and strategic positioning of our clients. He also supports the development of XOLAS’ financial advisory activities.

Fiona Hunter has worked in the global higher education sector for over 30 years in a variety of different academic and management roles. She is now a consultant, trainer and researcher with private, public and faith-based institutions around the world and her work focuses mainly on strategic change and internationalisation of both academic and management processes.

She is also Associate Director at the Centre for Higher Education Internationalisation (CHEI) at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy, Visiting Tutor at the University of Bath in the UK, member of the International Advisory Board at the Universidad de Granada in Spain, member of the Scientific Council of AVEPRO (Holy See’s Agency for the Evaluation and Promotion of Quality in Ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties) and Co-Editor of the Journal of Studies for International Education (JSIE). With Neil Sparnon, she is co-author of the forthcoming book ‘The Illustrated Guide to Higher Education Management: For New Leaders and New Institutions’. She holds a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) in Higher Education Management.

Neil Sparnon has worked in the global higher education sector for over nearly 30 years. He specialises in research funding, on-line education, quality assurance systems and institutional administrative and strategic management processes. He was a key figure in the development of several programmes to bring higher education to refugees including Jesuit Commons: Higher Education at the Margins (Jesuit World-wide Learning) and the Opening Universities for Refugees initiative.

Neil’s initial experience was as a programme manager with the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. He joined Anglia Ruskin University as its Director of Research Administration in 1996, holding several positions and culminating in Assistant Registrar. He became a full-time consultant in 2008 in higher education and strategic management and has worked with multiple institutions in Europe, Africa, East Asia, the Middle East and North America. Between 2012 and 2017, he was a member of the academic team for the International Federation of Catholic Universities’ leadership programme offering development to senior institutional leaders. With Fiona Hunter, he is co-author of the forthcoming book ‘The Illustrated Guide to Higher Education Management: For New Leaders and New Institutions’. He holds a PhD in modern UK/US/European studies.

François Thérin has 25 years of progressive leadership experience in higher education in 6 different countries, including Dean’s and Director’s positions in Europe, South-East Asia and the Middle East, giving him direct exposure to the higher education landscape in these regions. François has worked in small and large universities and business schools.

His areas of expertise are in strategic change, revenues generation, internationalisation (onshore and offshore), research optimisation, new programs development, and accreditations (national and international). He has consulting experience with business schools and UN agencies. François holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from Newcastle University (UK), an MPhil from IAE Aix-en-Provence (France) and a Master’s in Management from Toulouse Business School (France).

Within XOLAS, Claire Thouary advises clients mainly in quality management, national and international quality standards (AACSB, EQUIS, EFMD-Accredited, AMBA, etc), continuous improvement processes, Assurance of Learning processes, external audits, and gap analysis.

Claire is the Founder of QACE UP and assists HEIs in their quality management and accreditation goals in a constant evolving landscape. She held the position of Quality and International Accreditations Director at emlyon business school (France, Lyon) for years. She also managed teams within the executive education offer (customized programs). Her expertise was also appreciated within the Faculty management team in the recruitment processes and data management. Claire was also teaching French in Australia for a year and English at a master’s level in France. She graduated from the University Lyon III with a Master’s degree and is currently attending an MSc in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at HEC Paris.

Before working in Higher Education, Claire developed her skills in data management and Quality in the medical industry as she was in charge of quality audits (both internal and external ones) and reported to European medicines evaluation agencies. She also worked at euronews to help the distribution of the channel in Eastern countries and clean databases to improve quality services.

Koen Vandenbempt is the Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Antwerp (Belgium) and is furthermore a non-executive director of the Antwerp Management School (Belgium). He has held various leadership positions in the past (among them Associate Dean for Internationalization, Academic Director of the eMBA Program, Chairman of the Department of Management), both at the University of Antwerp and the Antwerp Management School. Koen is also a Visiting Professor at universities and business schools in the USA, Russia and India.

His work focuses on strategic change in organizations (mainly in industrial and technical settings) and in different industry contexts. In this capacity, he often works together with companies on change projects and/or is involved in management training sessions in the context of change. He is and has been involved as an independent director of companies in different industries (IT solution provider to the creative industries; Diamond Certification; Diamond federation; Higher Education).