2024 Best 40-Under-40 MBA Professors: Javier Gonzalez Nuñez, Ipade Business School

 

Javier Gonzalez Nuñez
Ipade Business School

“My sustainable finance and impact investing professor, Javier Gonzalez Nuñez, was truly exceptional. He possessed a remarkable level of empathy and facilitated engaging and insightful discussions by incorporating real-life case studies that challenged our thinking. His teaching style was refreshingly different from my previous experiences, as he infused a sense of playfulness, concreteness, and genuine fascination into the subject matter. Javier emphasized the potential of impact investing as a powerful lever for future economic growth. Through his insights, we came to understand that impact investing not only generates positive social and environmental outcomes but also holds significant promise as a driver of economic development in the years to come.” – Antoine Jaunet

Javier Gonzalez Nuñez, 33, is a professor at Ipade Business School, recognized as the top MBA in Mexico and Latin America by the Financial Times.

He is a multilingual educator proficient in English, French, and Spanish, reaching over 2,000 students annually across 46 countries. He has consistently earned teaching awards and high evaluations from students in various MBA programs in countries including France, Germany, India, Belgium, Chile, the Netherlands, and Mexico.

Currently, he serves as the adjunct director of the EMBA at Ipade.
Nuñez is the founder of HOPE, a social venture that provides higher education to refugees and underprivileged populations. In just two years, HOPE has trained 800 individuals, with 60% enhancing their incomes or starting successful businesses. He has delivered eight TEDx talks and regularly mentors social impact entrepreneurs at MIT.

His consulting work includes training sessions for companies and governments, such as the governments of Belgium and the Netherlands, Airbus, the European Union, the United Nations, and Neom. Javier has held numerous conferences and keynotes, reaching over 20,000 attendees in the past two years, including events at the UN.

He is also a board member and advisor to several startups founded by his former students, and he oversees the Innovation Management and Digital Transformation program at Universidad Autónoma de Chile, enhancing both MBA and EMBA curriculums.

BACKGROUND

At current institution since what year? 2024

Education:

• Msc in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship at HEC Paris (France)
• Global Advanced Management Program at IE Business School (Spain)
• MBA at ENEB (Spain)
• Master in Corporate Finance at ICHEC Brussels School of Management (Belgium)

List of MBA courses you currently teach:

• Strategy
• Innovation management
• Entrepreneurship
• Social Entrepreneurship
• Creativity

TELL US ABOUT LIFE AS A BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSOR

I knew I wanted to be a business school professor when… I got invited to a conference by a business school in India when I used to live there.

What are you currently researching and what is the most significant discovery you’ve made from it? I’m researching innovation and social entrepreneurship. The creativity that exists in the new generations has no limit and more and more people are looking to have a social impact. It is no longer just about doing business, but about how they can help their community.

If I weren’t a business school professor… I would be a research journalist and a writer. I love investigation, writing and spreading knowledge. So if I couldn’t be a professor the closest to what I love would be that job. I also love travelling and living adventures so I could do both by being a journalist.

What do you think makes you stand out as a professor? Staying between academia and business gives me an up-to-date vision, which allows me to connect with the students and understand their needs, as well as provide them with a realistic view of the business market.

One word that describes my first time teaching: Dream!

Here’s what I wish someone would’ve told me about being a business school professor: Learn first how people learn to have the most impactful teaching possible.

Professor I most admire and why: Nana Von Bernuth and Thomas Hellwig, my two professors at the ITP and INSEAD. I consider them as mentors since they changed and improved my teaching forever.

TEACHING MBA STUDENTS

What do you enjoy most about teaching business students? Listening about crazy and great ideas for new businesses and, with time, being able to see how those ideas are transformed into real businesses.

What is most challenging? Encouraging students with a realistic perspective and not breaking their dreams.

In one word, describe your favorite type of student: Passionate.

In one word, describe your least favorite type of student: Dispassionate

When it comes to grading, I think students would describe me as… Consistent with what I was sharing during the course and the way to evaluate them.

LIFE OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM

What are your hobbies? Reading, listening to music, traveling, eating.

How will you spend your summer? Discovering new places, people, flavors and sounds.

Favorite place(s) to vacation: Any place I did not visit yet. I love to continuously discover new places, cultures and people.

Favorite book(s): “Bel ami” by Guy de Maupassant and “La sombra del viento” by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

What is currently your favorite movie and/or show and what is it about the film or program that you enjoy so much? “Gladiator” is my favorite movie. His commitment with his beliefs and values till the end and the courage to never give up.

What is your favorite type of music or artist(s) and why? My favorite artist is Joan Manuel Serrat, part of my family history. Every time I listen, his songs make me connect with the people I’ve loved the most.

THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS

If I had my way, the business school of the future would have much more of this… Experiential learning. Learners are not here anymore for the paper or the knowledge, they certainly want that but coupled with a great living and human experience.

In my opinion, companies and organizations today need to do a better job at… Correctly compensate talent and encourage the continuous development of those who demonstrate competences and interest in improving as it will ultimately impact the company.

I’m grateful for… Being the grandkid of my grandparents Juana and José without whom I would have been nothing. They taught me everything I know and the values that drive my life. Everything I do is for them.

DON’T MISS: THE ENTIRE 2024 ROSTER OF THE WORLD’S BEST 40-UNDER-40 MBA PROFESSORS