- The Board of Directors and the General Council of Vlerick Business School have today appointed Professor Marion Debruyne as the new dean of Vlerick Business School as of August 1st when the current dean Philippe Haspeslagh retires. Philippe Haspeslagh will remain connected with the school as a strategy professor and has been granted the title of honorary dean by the Board of Directors.
Marion Debruyne has spent the last ten years as Professor of Marketing Strategy & Innovation at Vlerick Business School and has also been a partner of the School since 2008. Since 2012, she has headed the Masters programmes. Before that, Professor Debruyne spent five years in the United States where she was connected to the Wharton School, the Kellogg School of Management, and Goizueta Business School. Alongside her academic publications in renowned journals, she developed strong ties with the corporate world by means of various chairs and in-company training programmes. She is also on the Boards of Directors of Kinepolis and Recticel. Her recent book ‘Customer Innovation’ won the CMI Management book of the year 2015 in the category Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
"We are delighted that Marion Debruyne is becoming the new dean of Vlerick Business School," says Roch Doliveux, chairman of Vlerick Business School. "She brings impressive credentials, an amazing energy, a solid international experience and mindset, a deep understanding of the Vlerick Spirit after ten years as a well-respected academic and a strong affinity and network in the corporate world. Marion will bring more focus, stronger external partnerships, faster internationalisation and innovation to better transform knowledge into action and action into knowledge for our customers. On behalf of the Board of Directors and the faculty and staff, I wish Marion Debruyne all the success she deserves as the new dean of Vlerick Business School, with all our support. In addition I want to thank Philippe Haspeslagh for the job well done as dean for the past 6 years”.
“I'm delighted to take over the torch from Philippe Haspeslagh and carry the school forward on its international journey” says Marion Debruyne. “I'm also looking forward to work together with the important stakeholders and supporters of the school, not in the least our strong alumni base and parent universities, KU Leuven and UGent. As an alumnus of the school myself, I'm proud to take the Vlerick heritage to the next level, and continue to inspire our students, participants, corporate partners and people with the unique Vlerick spirit”.
About Marion Debruyne
Marion Debruyne is an alumna of both UGent, from which she graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering (1995), and Vlerick Business School, where she obtained a Masters in Marketing Management (1996). She also obtained a PhD in Applied Economics at UGent (2002).
Marion Debruyne started her career as a researcher at Vlerick Business School (1996-1999). She then held the positions of ICM Doctoral Fellow (1999-2002), Visiting Doctoral Fellow at the Wharton School - University of Pennsylvania (2000-2001), Visiting Scholar at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management - Northwestern University (2001-2002) and Assistant Professor at the Goizueta Business School - Emory University (2002-2005). Since 2005, she has occupied the position of Professor of Marketing Strategy & Innovation at Vlerick Business School, where she was also made a partner in 2008. As the Director of Masters Programmes, she has also been responsible for all the Masters degree programmes at Vlerick Business School since 2012. Additionally, she is a member of the Business Committee and a representative of the partner professors on the Board of Directors.
Marion’s expertise focuses on the interface between marketing strategy, innovation and competitive strategy. Her research examines the pitfalls faced by companies when they encounter competitive threats and structural changes within their branch of industry. Her research has been published in various renowned journals, including Marketing Science. Last year, she incorporated her research into the management book ‘Customer Innovation’ which won several prestigious international awards.
Marion also enjoys close ties with the corporate world and is uniquely skilled at translating academic insights into the requirements of clients and companies. Since 2014 Marion is board member of Vlerick Business School and in addition, she is on the Board of Directors of the listed companies Kinepolis and Recticel.