Vlerick Business School and ESSEC Business School, UNICON

Welcome to Vlerick and Celebrating ESSEC’s Full Membership

We continue to welcome new UNICON members continue to strengthen our global consortium. We are delighted to welcome Vlerick Business School as our newest associate member and celebrate ESSEC Business School‘s advancement to full membership status, expanding our network of leading executive education institutions.

Vlerick Business School, Belgium

Vlerick Business School, founded in 1953 by economist and entrepreneur André Vlerick, is the leading business school in the BeNeLux region, offering MBAs, Masters, and executive education across its campuses in Brussels, Ghent, and Leuven. With Triple Crown accreditation and a #1 FT ranking in Belgium, Vlerick combines academic excellence with strong ties to the business world, fostering a dynamic, international learning environment. As an autonomous institution with deep roots in KU Leuven and Ghent University, it boasts over 31 international faculty members, 25,000+ alumni from 118 nationalities, and global alliances with institutions like Peking University and Stellenbosch Business School. What makes Vlerick unique is its forward-looking focus on entrepreneurship, digital innovation, and sustainability—offering start-up accelerators, Venture Labs, and programs like Digital Strategy & Transformation and the Sustainability Academy—ensuring students and executives are equipped to drive impact in a rapidly changing world.

“Joining UNICON represents an exciting step in strengthening our commitment to excellence in executive education. At Vlerick Business School, our purpose is to transform people for a better world. We grow entrepreneurial leaders and support them in building the competence and confidence needed to drive meaningful change.

Being an associate member of the UNICON Executive Education Consortium aligns perfectly with this mission. We believe in the power of collaboration and continuous learning and see UNICON as a valuable platform for exchanging ideas, benchmarking globally, and co-shaping the future of leadership development.

As a leading provider of executive education in the Benelux region and the first FT-ranked business school in Belgium, we look forward to contributing actively to this dynamic network, sharing our expertise, and bringing fresh insights back to our practice.”

Patrick De Greve
General Director & Head of Executive Education at Vlerick Business School

Vlerick Business School is eager to contribute to and benefit from key UNICON initiatives:

  • Cutting-edge Research: Exploring executive education industry trends, diving deep into customer centricity, and pioneering teaching & learning innovation
  • Transformative Leadership Academy: Joining a carefully curated 8-month development program designed specifically for executive education professionals seeking to advance their leadership journey
  • Global Networking Excellence: Engaging in high-impact events and intimate coffee break sessions that foster meaningful connections across UNICON’s network of 120+ leading business schools worldwide

ESSEC Business School, France

ESSEC, founded in 1907, is one of the world’s top management schools and holds the “triple crown” accreditation from EQUIS, AACSB and AMBA. With 7,221 students; a faculty comprised of 169 full-time professors, 23 of which are emeritus professors, in France and Singapore, recognized for both the quality and influence of their research; a wide range of management training programs; partnerships with the world’s best universities; and a network of 65,000 alumni, ESSEC continues to foster a tradition of academic excellence and a spirit of openness in the fields of economics, social sciences and innovation.

In 2005, ESSEC opened a campus in Asia. ESSEC’s operations in Asia Pacific, strategically located in Singapore, present the perfect foothold for ESSEC to be part of the vibrant growth of Asia and to bring its expertise to the expanding region. Additionally, in 2017 ESSEC opened a new campus in Rabat, Morocco.

ESSEC’s international expansion allows students and professors to study and understand the economic forces at work in the different regions of the world.