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About

Following the initiative taken by Kristin Cappuyns (IESE, Spain), a small group of committed family business researchers came together to hold meetings specifically to discuss family business research (Barcelona, 1999 and Amsterdam, 2000).

The purpose was to share experiences and network at an international level. At these meetings, it became evident that family business research, theory and practice had been emerging rapidly over the last decade. The field had reached a stage where there was a need for further quality improvement through enhanced collaboration and accelerated learning from best practices.

Researchers in the family business field desperately needed a platform allowing them to meet and exchange information on a regular basis. And so, in January 2001, an international team of researchers met in Barcelona to work out some basic protocols for a formal organization, named IFERA, The International Family Enterprise Research Academy.


Since its very beginning, IFERA counts on the support of an extended group of researchers from the family business field, whose membership is growing exponentially.

Founding Board

Joe Astrachan

Formerly Kennesaw State Univ.
Wachovia Chair of Family Business
USA

Christine Blondel

INSEAD
France

Daniela Montemerlo

SDA Bocconi
Bocconi University
Italy

Salvatore Tomaselli

Palermo University
Italy

Albert Jan Thomassen

Tias Business School
Family Business Center
Netherlands

Kristin Cappuyns

IESE International Business School
Family Business Chair
Spain

Kosmas Smyrnios

School of Marketing
RMIT University
Australia

Panikkos Poutziouris

Manchester Science Enterprise Centre
United Kingdom

Alvaro Vilaseca

IEEM
University of Montevideo
Uruguay

From left to right:

Albert Jan Thomassen

Tias Business School
Family Business Center
Netherlands

Joe Astrachan

Formerly Kennesaw State Univ.
Wachovia Chair of Family Business
USA

Kristin Cappuyns

IESE International Business School
Family Business Chair
Spain

Christine Blondel

INSEAD
France

Kosmas Smyrnios

School of Marketing
RMIT University
Australia

Daniela Montemerlo

SDA Bocconi
Bocconi University
Italy

Panikkos Poutziouris

Manchester Science Enterprise Centre
United Kingdom

Salvatore Tomaselli

Palermo University
Italy

Alvaro Vilaseca

IEEM
University of Montevideo
Uruguay

Governance

Ifera Board

The IFERA Board aided by the Executive Team, has the overall responsibility of charting the development of the organization and managing its growing portfolio of research initiatives.
Josip Kotlar
IFERA President
Torsten Pieper
IFERA Past President
Massimo Baù
BOARD MEMBER & RESEARCH & PUBLICATIONS DIRECTOR
Claudia Binz Astrachan
Board Member
Isabel C. Botero
Board Member and Treasurer
Kimberly A. Eddleston
Board Member
Rania Labaki
Board Member
Esra Memili
Board Member
Winnie Peng
Board Member
Paul Woodfield
Board Member

Executive Commitee

Massimo Baù
BOARD MEMBER & RESEARCH & PUBLICATIONS DIRECTOR
Isabel C. Botero
Board Member and Treasurer
Josip Kotlar
IFERA President
Torsten Pieper
IFERA Past President
Valentina Re
IFERA Executive Director

Our Team

The IFERA Team supports the organization on a continuous basis and on many different projects. 

Our heroes are:

Emanuela Rondi
RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CHAIR
Pedro Vazquez
IFERA LATAM Chair
Unai Arzubiaga
R&P TEAM
Carlotta Benedetti
RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT TEAM
Maria J. Sanchez- Bueno
RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT TEAM
Juliana Binhote
IFERA LATAM COORDINATOR & PhD STUDENTS AMBASSADOR
Marco Mismetti
RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT TEAM
Peter Trümmel
PhD Students Ambassador
María Rodríguez García
PHD STUDENTS AMBASSADOR

Fellows

Fellows act as a sounding board for strategic decisions. Fellows are eminent scholars who have contributed substantially to the advancement of the field of family business research and have been honoured by IFERA. Fellows widely participate and support IFERA activities and act as ambassadors of the organization in various academic and research communities and other policy-making bodies.
Joseph H. Astrachan
Craig Aronoff
Christine Blondel
Jim Chrisman
Jess Chua
Guido Corbetta
Sharon Danes
John Davis
Rik Donckels
Miguel Gallo
Frank Hoy
Kristin Kappuyns
Manfred Kets de Vries
Matti Koiranen
Alden Lank
Leif Melin
Daniela Montemerlo
Ken Moores
Barbara Murray
Shaker Zahra
Nigel Nicholson
Guillermo Perkins
Panikkos Poutziouris
Sabine Rau
Kosmas Smyrnios
Lloyd Steier
Josep Tapies
Albert Jan Thomassen
Salvatore Tomaselli
Alvaro Vilaseca
Yong Wang
John Ward
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office@ifera.org

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