Danica Purg

Professor Danica Purg is President of IEDC-Bled School of Management, Slovenia, President of CEEMAN, the International Association for Management Development in Dynamic Societies. She is also President of Alliance of Management Development Associations in Rising Economies, co-founded by CEEMAN, with the aim to accelerate the growth of relevant and excellent management education in the global markets that need it most.

Prof. Danica Purg is professor of leadership and effective management at IEDC-Bled School of Management. She authored and co-authored several books and numerous articles on leadership issues. Her research focuses on looking for inspirations for managers from art and other professions. The article “Why art in management education? Questioning meaning” (2017), written together with colleague Ian Sutherland and  published by the Academy of Management Review is very often quoted in management literature worldwide. In 2021 Springer published an update of the Hidden Champions research entitled “Hidden Champions in Dynamically Changing Societies: Critical Success Factors for Market Leadership”, with Prof. Purg being the co-editor and co-author. In 2015, a special chapter about her leadership journey was published in the book Women and Leadership Around the World by Prof. Susan Madsen.

Prof. Purg has received numerous national and international awards for her outstanding achievements in the field of international business education. The President of the Republic of Slovenia awarded her with the Honorary Order of Freedom for her contribution to management development in Slovenia and Central and Eastern Europe. In 2010, Prof. Purg received the 2010 International Educator of the Year Award from the Academy of International Business (AIB) for her outstanding achievements in international business education. In 2018, Prof. Purg received the highest French order of merit “National Order of the Legion of Honour” for her dedication and support in strengthening bilateral relations between France and Slovenia, particularly in the field of management education. And in July 2022, she was awarded the Order of Rio Branco, the highest decoration of the Federative Republic of Brazil for a foreign national.

She is very active in PRME (Principles of Responsible Management Education), an initiative of the UN Global Compact, which in 2017 awarded Prof. Purg for her pioneering work in establishing the UN PRME initiative. She has held many important roles in PRME in the past, among others she served as the Acting Chair of the PRME Steering Committee, and successfully completed the task to transform PRME. Prof. Purg also heads the European Leadership Centre (ELC) and is Chairlady of the Academic board of the International Research Center for Hidden Champions at Zhejiang University, China. She is a member of several international advisory boards at management schools around the world, including University of Stellenbosch Business School, in South Africa, School of Management Zhejiang University, China, and ESSCA School of Management, France.

She holds three Doctor Honoris Causa titles and two honorary professorship titles, and is a frequent guest speaker at universities around the world and at international conferences.