Although he has been dean of Vlerick Leuven Gent School of Management, Belgium, for only a little more than six months, Philippe Haspeslagh is very much at ease in his role.

Part of this is due to the fact that he regards his appointment as a return to his roots. A Flemish Belgian, Prof Haspeslagh is an alumnus of both Leuven University where he graduated as a commercial engineer and also Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School where he studied PUB – a post-graduate general management programme – when it was still a part of Ghent University. Furthermore, Prof André Vlerick – who founded the school – was Prof Haspeslagh’s mentor.