Martin Winterkorn (Volkswagen) to receive the ESADE Award at the 19th ESADE Alumni Annual Conference

ESADE Alumni will be giving this year’s ESADE Award to Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management at Volkswagen AG. Mr. Winterkorn will collect the award in person on 22nd May during the 19th ESADE Alumni Annual Conference, which will be held at the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya in Barcelona. This year’s conference coincides with the 25th anniversary of ESADE Alumni.

The ESADE Awards are sponsored by ESADE Alumni as a means of honouring organisations and individuals whose careers, activities or services have demonstrated the values that define the founding spirit of ESADE Business School and set a good example for others.

This year’s award will go to Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management at Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largest automotive group. He is receiving this honour for his exemplary leadership in support of innovation and new technologies, for his truly global focus, and for his outstanding achievements as CEO of Volkswagen AG.

During the conference, Mr. Winterkorn will give a talk entitled "Forging a Solid Industrial Base for the Future of Europe". In his talk, he will discuss ways to quickly adapt industry to the needs of each customer and describe the strategies that Volkswagen has adopted in order to become a leader in sustainable technology.

ESADE alumni, Europe’s largest alumni association

The 19th ESADE Alumni Annual Conference coincides with the association’s 25th anniversary. ESADE Alumni was founded with the goal of creating a global network where ESADE graduates – now holding positions of responsibility the world over – could come together to share their experiences. With more than 50,000 members, ESADE Alumni is the largest alumni association in Europe.

The conference, which is expected to draw 2,000 participants, will also feature a keynote address by José Manuel Soria, the Spanish Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism. The event will end with a ceremony recognising ESADE Alumni’s 22 founding members as a commemoration of the association’s 25th anniversary.

Previous winners of the ESADE Award include Antonio Brufau, Chairman and CEO of Repsol; Pablo Isla, Chairman of Inditex; and Mikael Ohlsson, CEO of Ikea.

An outstanding executive career

Martin Winterkorn holds honorary professorships at Tongji University in Shanghai, the Budapest University of Technology and Economics and the Dresden University of Technology. He is the Chairman of the Board of Management at Volkswagen AG, the German automaker’s parent company. From 2002 to 2006, he served as Chairman of the Board of Management at the Volkswagen Group subsidiary Audi AG. In the course of his distinguished career, he has also worked for Robert Bosch GmbH, Bosch-Siemens Hausgeräte, Ingolstadt and many other companies. He is also the Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Porsche Automobil Holding.