Dean of French business school Kedge moves to rival EMLyon

Bernard Belletante, who resigned as director-general of French business school Kedge in January after just six months in the job, has been appointed to head up rival EMLyon.

The appointment of Prof Belletante, who worked at EMLyon between 1987 and 2001, latterly as vice-dean, comes at the end of several years of turmoil in the top management at the Lyon school. Former director-general Philippe Courtier, a meteorologist and previously director of a Paris engineering school, lasted just a year in the top job. He resigned in June 2013.

Before that, Prof Coutier’s predecessor Patrick Molle left the school after 16 years in the top job in April 2012, because of disagreements with the faculty on the strategy of the school. Prof Molle went on to set up France Business School, an affiliation of four of France’s grandes écoles – Sup de Co Amiens-Picardie, ESC Bretagne Brest, ESC Clermont and Escem.

Prof Belletante, who is also president of the Chapitre des Grandes Ecoles de Management, the governing body for France’s business schools, will start his job in Lyons in May.

Meanwhile at Kedge the musical chairs continue as Philip McLaughlin is appointed interim dean. Prof McLaughlin is the former dean of BEM in Bordeaux, which merged with Euromed in Marseille to form Kedge in 2013. An official recruitment process is now under way.