When I received an invitation to Mexico’s IPADE Business School’s 50-years celebration, I accepted immediately. This was something I didn’t want to miss.
Alfonso Bolio, then IPADE’s Dean and Beatriz Guzman, their international relations director came to GBSN’s 2010 Annual Conference in Washington D.C. They liked the “GBSN crowd,” a unique community of management school leaders from all over the world, ranging from Afghanistan to Cambodia as well as OECD countries. I also suspect that they enjoyed the spirit of openness, eagerness to learn from one another, and yes, fun.
IPADE Business School joined GBSN soon thereafter, and lo and behold, offered to host our 2011 Annual Conference. With the theme, “Generating leadership: developing human capacity in emerging markets,” the conference attracted over 140 participants from 30 countries. Apart from the superb quality of discussions, participants enjoyed IPADE’s lovely main campus, a former hacienda in the heart of Mexico City. The campus has modern classrooms blending harmoniously with ancient cobblestoned pathways. The Gala Dinner sponsors included a top Mexican wine producer, and several locally renowned chefs competed in producing dinner. I turned to one of my colleagues and said: “this hospitality is unsurpassable; next year we will have to have our conference on a raft in the Amazon, as no comparison will be possible.”
IPADE Business School was founded in 1967 to train leaders through innovative academics, a global focus, and social responsibility. Business ethics is IPADE’s core value. To date, over 35,000 students have graduated from IPADE.
IPADE is a remarkable school. Over the years, IPADE has enhanced the leadership and management skills of thousands of Mexican and other executives.
So, I arrived in Mexico last month with high expectations that very soon were vastly exceeded. On March 30th, 2017, IPADE celebrated 50 years since its founding. This date marks the beginning of a series of commemorative events and academic projects that will run the duration of 2017.
The first day’s event took place in a historic former monastery, Colegio de las Vizcainas, located in the heart of the city. To me, the most moving moment was listening to a student orchestra of the Panamerican University, of which IPADE is a part. The orchestra performed a symphonic piece by Samuel Zyman, a noted Mexican composer who teaches at the Juilliard School. The piece, entitled “Horizons: Sonorous Reflections toward Virtue” was composed specially for the occasion.
The schedule of commemorative events was created as a way to revisit and celebrate the history of IPADE, as well as the impact that the institution has had on thousands of businesspeople and leaders. The anniversary events were focused on strengthening IPADE Business School and continuing to solidify its position as the business school of reference in Mexico and Central America.
The next day we convened at the campus. Altogether about a thousand persons participated, mostly IPADE alumni. Most important to me, I reunited with Bea Guzman and Rosa Garcidueas who had done 99% of the work when IPADE hosted our conference back in 2011.
GBSN is proud to have such a school apart of our network. 
Rafael Gomez Nava, Dean, IPADE Business SchoolGuy Pfeffermann is the Founder and CEO of the Global Business School Network