About / Board
Our members and representatives of our ecosystem make up our Board, member companies co-own and co-govern CEDEP and are able to leverage the expertise and contacts of other members.
No other educational institution offers companies the opportunity to participate actively and strongly influence the development of its curricula. Members are represented on the Board and also form an Advisory Education Committee that meets to give feedback, express specific management development needs, and to jointly develop new learning programmes.
Thomas obtained his Law degree in Austria in 1987, and a Masters in Law from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, European Community Law section.
Thomas worked for Schlumberger (Sedco Forex, Dowell, Anadrill and Geco Prakla) as General Counsel in Singapore and Paris (1990 -1997), as Director of Marketing for Schlumberger Sedco Forex (1997 – 2001), based in Paris and Houston. After the merger of Sedco Forex with Transocean, he served as General Manager for the Egypt and Mediterranean Area from 2001 to 2003 based in Cairo, and from 2004 to 2007 as Managing Director of the Gulf of Guinea/West Africa Division, based in Nigeria.
From 2008 to 2013 he held different senior positions in HR, including at the Transocean Corporate Headquarters in Geneva, and was an Officer of Transocean for 4 years. Thomas was involved from the broader HR perspective in the follow-up of the Macondo Accident.
Subsequently he was overseeing the sale of 37 Drilling rigs to Shelf Drilling in 2013 and early 2014.
He currently is the Managing Director of CEDEP, an Executive Education Club, running also Leadership and Safety seminars/workshops.
Jérôme Stoll recently retired after a career spanning thirty years as a senior executive and finally Deputy CEO in charge of performance at Groupe Renault. Although nominally retired, he continues as President of Renault Sport Racing.
Jérôme joined Group Renault in 1980 as Deputy Treasurer. He was posted overseas three years later as Managing Director of Berliet Nigeria, returning to the Group Finance Division and becoming Chief Administrative and Financial Officer of Renault Automation in 1989. Appointed VP for Industrial Procurement Division in 1994, then SVP for the Mechanical Parts Purchasing division, he moved in 2000 to Seoul in South Korea as CEO of Renault Samsung Motors. A further transfer saw him move to Latin America in 2006 as EVP of Mercosur, Chairman of Renault do Brasil and member of the Executive Committee of the Groupe Renault. Returning to France in 2009, he was appointed Sales & Marketing EVP and in 2013, Chief Performance Officer (deputy CEO) for the entire Group Renault business.
Jérôme has consistently during his career used his knowledge of finance and operating efficiency to achieve a return to profit of subsidiaries and business units facing management and/or financial difficulties. He retains his membership of three strategic committees in the automotive sector and as the Independent Director of a U.S. listed company.
Jérôme holds a Master of Business Administration from Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris and received his Certified Public Accountant degree and Executive MBA from HEC Paris.
Jérôme representing RENAULT was appointed to the CEDEP Board in 2012.
Chris Evans was appointed CEDEP Treasurer in 2008 after retiring from the position of UK HR Director for Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance.
After university Chris first joined Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), at that point the UK’s largest listed private company, and spent 6 years in Brussels working at their European Headquarters before moving to France as Personnel Manager for a new factory under construction near Marseille. He joined US computer manufacturer Sperry Univac in 1977 as HR Manager for Northern European Operations working out of Amsterdam before returning to the UK as Head of Management Services following the merger in of Sperry and Burroughs Machines to form UNISYS.
The experience thus gained of integration, facilities management and restructure proved of major value following appointment some years later as General Manager HR for Royal Insurance in London when Royal merged with one of its major competitors in 1986 to form RSA Insurance Plc. At this time Chris was also Chairman of the Insurance Industry Training Council responsible for standard setting for technical underwriting, claims and administrative qualifications up to degree level in UK financial services.
Chris Evans graduated from Kings College, Cambridge with a degree in Modern Languages and is a Fellow of the UK’s Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
He joined the CEDEP Board in 1996.
Robert Brunck is Chairman and CEO of TRANSVALOR, the Mines ParisTech Innovation and Research Development company. Partnering with the PSL (Paris University) Innovation Fund, TRANSVALOR invests in deep-tech start-ups and develops high-end digital technologies for major industries.
Prior to this new engagement, he was for 12 years President of ARMINES.
Robert has career long experience in all three major Energy Sectors (Nuclear, Oil&Gas and Renewables) and Natural Resources, serving most recently as Executive Chairman and CEO of CGGVeritas and SERCEL. The key challenge he faced was to develop the Group as a major player in geophysical products and services, consolidating 25 companies active in more than 100 countries and building a strong international leadership team of around 150 managers. The Company now leads the world in computing capacity, big data management, interactive simulation and interpretation software, leveraging Artificial Intelligence to provide the most advanced geophysical imaging solutions of earth subsurface features. Over time he has served on the Boards of companies such as Thales, Nexans, IFP Energies Nouvelles, BRGM (France's reference public institution for Earth Science Applications).
Robert began a long term partnership with CEDEP in 2000 with the Institute acting as the CGGVeritas University in Executive Development. He subsequently joined the CEDEP Board and was President from 2015 to 2019.
Jean-Philippe Courtois is Executive Vice President and President, National Transformation Partnerships at Microsoft, where he focuses on transforming national economies, helping to create sustainable and inclusive economic growth through digital transformation, one country at a time.
Through this investment, governments, citizens and businesses can leverage the world’s largest and most trusted cloud infrastructure network. For Jean-Philippe, this also involves empowering the people and organisations that do good through Microsoft’s Global Social Entrepreneurship Program.
He is also passionate about promoting the concept of Positive Leadership: how purpose-led leaders can generate a positive energy that achieves greater commercial success, individual happiness, team wellbeing and positive societal impact.
Jean-Philippe joined Microsoft in 1984 and most recently, led Microsoft’s commercial business across 124 subsidiaries worldwide as Executive Vice President and President, Global Sales, Marketing & Operations. In this role, he helped build vibrant ecosystems with small businesses, start-ups, public sector entities and partners, all the way to global industry leaders.
Outside of Microsoft, Jean-Philippe spends much of his time working with the Live for Good foundation, which he co-founded with his family in 2015. The foundation aims to unlock the potential of young people from all walks of life through social entrepreneurship, driving societal innovation through a purpose-led community.
He holds a Diplôme des Etudes Commerciales Supérieures (DECS) from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce, Nice (SKEMA) and has been its chairman of the board since 2017.
He also sits on the board of directors for ManpowerGroup, the global workforce solutions organisation.
A CEDEP board member since 2020, Jean-Phillippe is exceptionally well placed to advise both the board and faculty on the latest developments in IT and the revolutionary effects of technological advances on all aspects of life, industry and commerce. He is a regular public speaker on these subjects and passionate about the need for education to anticipate the accelerating rate of change.
Julien Fayet is the co-founder and Managing Director of Schoolab and is an entrepreneur in the fields of education and culture.
Having played a leading role in the launch and early development and expansion of Amazon in France, Julien himself created and sourced funding for several startups in music and art before founding Schoolab in 2013: the first innovation studio that brings together populations of students with startups and large corporations.
At Schoolab Julien has developed different programs of innovation, notably CPI, as well as entrepreneurial programs such as the Schoolab Starter. He continues to work for the combination and cooperation between students, startups, and corporations.
Julien is a graduate of ESSEC Business School, earning a Master of Business Administration.
Julien has been a CEDEP board member since 2018.
Ersi Pirishi is Global Deputy General Manager, in charge of the markets Active Cosmetics Division, at L’Oréal.
Ersi started her career at LVMH group as International Training and Scientific Communication Manager and then held various positions in international marketing at the J&J group
Ersi joined L’Oréal in 2001 and since then has had various business management positions in Europe, Latin and North America.
Ersi brings to the Board an international perspective and a wealth of experience in manufacturing, wholesale and retail sales in cosmetics sectors.
She holds a Diplôme d’Etat de Docteur en Pharmacie and DEA de Biologie Cutanée at Cosmétologie from Faculty of Pharmacy – University of Paris XI
Ersi representing L'Oréal was appointed to the CEDEP board in 2019.
Anjali Raina is Executive Director of the Harvard Business School (HBS) Indian Research Center in Mumbai, India, which supports research in the South Asia region. She leads a team which researches and analyses the trends that are shaping the region as well as the emerging business models.
Anjali began her career as Senior Manager at AMZ Grindlays Bank in India before moving to Citi Group India where she was the Country Training Director for 15 years.
Her in depth knowledge of how society and ways of conducting business are being transformed throughout the region and the risks and rewards of investing in different South Asian economies have proved invaluable in the design of CEDEP’s Business Excellence programme running at Fontainebleau and Shanghai,
Anjali holds a Bachelor of Arts from University of Calcutta and an MBA in Marketing and Organizational Behavior at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. She earned an Advanced Management Program certification from Harvard Business School.
Anjali has been a CEDEP board member since 2017.
Frédéric Schwartz is currently Corporate President of Safe Group, an international industrial group that produces technical components in cast steel and injection molded plastic and operates 20 manufacturing plants in 9 countries on 3 continents.
His first appointment in a senior leadership role was as CFO & Country MD at Raychem Europe spending five years at the connectivity distributor before moving to consumer products company, Melitta – Western Europe, where for over 9 years he was Chief Operating Officer.
Immediately prior to joining Safe Group, he was Associate Director of 4A Management, a business management consultancy.
Frederic has extensive business management experience in industrial, small and mid-size companies in acquisition and merger, turn around, expansion, rebranding and efficiency improvement situations across a spectrum of French, German and U.S-based companies.
He has Master of Business Administration from NEOMA Business School and DECS Certified Accountant Degree in Law.
Frédéric representing SAFE has been a CEDEP board member since 2019.
