A former student of the École Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay, Bernard Belletante has been deeply involved in the leadership and strategic transformation of French Grandes Écoles in Management.
From 1996 to 2002, he served as Deputy General Director of EM Lyon. In 2002, he joined Euromed Management as CEO & Dean. He led the merger of Euromed Management and BeM (Bordeaux EM), becoming the first Dean of the new structure: KEDGE Business School.
From 2014 to 2019, as Dean & CEO of emlyon business school, he implemented a major strategic overhaul of the school: development of the “early maker” pedagogy, international expansion (China, India, Morocco), and entry into the club of business schools generating over €100 million in annual revenue. His mandate was marked by the opening of emlyon’s capital—following a legal transformation—to an investment fund, ensuring long-term financial stability. He also led the Early Makers Hub project, which relocated emlyon from Ecully to the heart of Lyon, emphasizing the need for a radical shift in educational real estate. In 2019, €110 million in equity and €130 million in long-term debt were raised.
Bernard Belletante served as President of the Management Schools Chapter and as a board member of the Conférence des Grandes Écoles.
Deeply committed to emerging economies, he founded the Mediterranean Network of Management Schools, co-founded the MENA Economic Forum, and served as Vice President of the Office for Economic Cooperation in the Mediterranean and the Middle East (OCEMO). He played a key role in establishing several campuses in China, Africa, and India. He also was member of 62 peer reviews for AACSB or EFMD.
Bernard Belletante currently heads a company specializing in “innoruptive” strategies (how to turn disruption into innovation). He also serves as President of the Strategic and Academic Committee of GA Education.
Recent publications:
- “Education: The Last Frontier Before the World”, Eyrolles Publishing, 2015.
- “Dictionnaire inattendu des Grandes Ecoles”, co-authored with Ph. Jamet (former president of Institut Mines-Télécom), EMS Editions, 2022.
