Damien Bouveresse, new Icam chairman

Icam
21 Nov 2023

Since November 20, Damien Bouveresse has been the new chairman of Icam. He succeeds François Bouvard after three mandates, in accordance with Icam articles of association. Following the appointment of Gilles Vandecaveye, who took over from Jean-Michel Viot as general manager in November 2022, this new tandem takes over to preside over Icam’s destiny and will ensure its administration and management for the years to come.

During his two mandates, François Bouvard has implemented a deep transformation of Icam’s governance to adapt it to current and future issues. He also made a major contribution to Icam’s development in France and around the world, with the opening of the Strasbourg Europe campus, the creation of the Unicap-Icam Tech campus in Recife (Brazil), the ULC-Icam campus in Kinshasa (DRC), the Puce-Icam campus in Quito (Ecuador), and promising partnerships with Ateneo University in Manila (Philippines) and Rajagiri University in Cochin (India). Under his presidency, a large number of structuring projects have also been implemented, including the creation of our international bachelor’s degree, the digital campus, the roll-out of production schools on all our French sites, and the renovation of our historic campus in Lille. We would like to thank him for his commitment to Icam over the past nine years. 

Damien Bouveresse knows Icam: he is an alumni (class of 1992 in Lille) and has chaired the board of the Grand Paris Sud site since 2015. “Studying at Icam was an opportunity,” he says, “and I’d like to give back as much as I received from the school, in contributing very concretely to the school’s projects, alongside the Icam and Society of Jesus teams, to allow other generations to also benefit from such an opportunity.

Damien’s career path was in the construction industry, with a particular focus on the international arena. His first experiences led him to live for several years in Great Britain and Spain, where he also received an MBA from IESE. He then returned to France to work for a British consulting firm, splitting his time between France, Spain and Italy to manage their subsidiaries. 

“When I left Icam in 1992, the Nantes site was just emerging at Carquefou. We’ve come a long way since then! I’m very enthusiastic about continuing the projects launched by François Bouvard, Jean-Luc Souflet and others before them, with the challenge of meeting the increased issues of the higher education sector. I have great confidence in our model, which is as singular as it is solid; I’ve met extraordinary collaborators, very committed administrators, and I’m looking forward to working with Gilles and his teams on all the great things that remain to be accomplished.”