1 September 2022, Fouziya Bouzerda takes over from Loïck Roche who held the role for 10 years.
Her remit is to continue rolling out the Grenoble-based business school’s ongoing ambitious strategic plan through to 2025, a plan which aims to provide tangible responses to meet the future needs of students, companies and society, whilst taking GEM to a new level in its development as a Business Lab for Society.
Her ambition is to lead the school as it reinvents itself, strengthening its position as an influential, innovative and attractive business school, by harnessing in-house talent and rallying students around five key causes: Ethics and integrity, Equality for all, Education for all, Economic peace, Green transition.
Pierre STREIFF, President of the Grenoble Chamber of Commerce and Industry and of Grenoble Ecole de Management
“The arrival of Fouziya BOUZERDA is excellent news for GEM. She combines a strategic vision and a solid culture of innovation. She also has a proven track record as a leader with a focus on results and excellence.”
Pascal ANDRÉ, Vice-President of the Grenoble Chamber of Commerce and Industry and of Grenoble Ecole de Management
“We are certain that she will bring all the GEM stakeholders along with her (students, faculty, co-workers, graduates, partner firms) in boosting the school’s development and achieving our ambition of being one of the best business schools in France and Europe.”
Fouziya BOUZERDA, Director and Dean of Grenoble Ecole de Management.
“I am proud to have been appointed Director of this prestigious business school, the first to become a société à mission (equivalent to B Corp status), acknowledged for the quality of its faculty, the commitment of its teams, the high standards of its learners and its exceptional economic ecosystem. Together, we will implement the 2025 strategic plan to reinforce GEM’s excellence and preserve its status as an influential 21st century business school, without losing sight of the meaning of its values and commitments in terms of sustainable development and social responsibility.”
A rich and diverse career path
Prior to becoming a barrister at the bar of Lyon for 25 years, practising public, real-estate and business law, she taught urban planning at the University of Lyon III as part of the Institute of Environmental Law.
President of the SYTRAL (transport syndicate for the Lyon urban area) up until 2020, she accompanied its transformation into a public entity ready to deploy the strategic vision for 2040-2050.
She deployed an ambitious investment plan to respond to the major challenges of digitalisation, accelerated by the COVID-19 crisis response.
She also worked to expand the international influence of the Sytral and its firms, through trade delegations, collaborations, trade fair interventions etc.
In addition, she supported the entrepreneurial dynamic of the City of Lyon and Lyon Metropole trade and economic delegation.
She recently cofounded the Chair of the Transition of Urban Agglomerations and Rural Territories with the President of the University of Lyon I and a number of leading private-sector and institutional stakeholders, with a view to responding to major environmental, energy and social challenges which require collaboration within a hybrid ecosystem.
Knight of the National Order of Merit, she has always been highly active in the non-profit sector working on gender equality, having created influential think tanks and remaining active in networks including the IWF (International Women’s Forum) Rhône-Alpes.
