It was our immense pleasure to announce the official launch of ESSEC's Centenary celebrations at the beginning of this exceptional year. In many ways, such an event is cathartic - an immense undertaking that has been a long time in preparation is now well and truly underway.

The list of people involved in making this possible is long indeed - luckily we have another 10 months in which to thank them all!
However, one of the quirks of such a momentous occasion is that, whilst the organization of so many events focuses our minds firmly on the present, we also find ourselves either looking back to the very roots of our School or, conversely, looking ahead to a bright future.

The beginnings of ESSEC may have been humble in terms of numbers (the first class to graduate from the Ecole Sainte Geneviève, as it was known during its first 6 years in existence, totaled 7 students), but a clear ambition was in place from the outset - to train future business leaders ready to serve others and see that justice was done.
It could therefore be argued that the core mission of ESSEC Business School has not changed as radically as we might think.

However, in light of the many achievements over the years and the goals the School has set itself for the near future, it may be more appropriate to say that the scale of the mission is the aspect to have changed the most - 27 000 alumni, 80 nationalities present across 3 campuses, 3 700 full-time students and 6 000 executives enrolled on 35 different programs per year. These and other statistics are illustrative of the huge strides made by the School in recent times.

On a more poignant note, this Centenary Year will give all members of our community a chance to delve into the School's past and trace just how far back the current mission dates. It is therefore with a thought for the history of this great institution and an eye to its future that we hope that the present year will be one of peace, prosperity and personal and professional achievement for you all.