Daniel Traça: a global academic at Esade

Daniel Traça (Coimbra, Portugal, 1967) is the first foreigner to hold the position of Director General of Esade. After a lengthy selection process, the business school chose this PhD in Economics from Columbia University to succeed Xavier Mendoza, whose term expired at the end of last year.

Traça has extensive experience in the international academic world: he has served as dean of the Nova School of Business and Economics in Lisbon and as a professor and researcher at prestigious universities in the United States, France, Brussels, and Singapore. It's hard to find a more international profile than his. Traça was born in Portugal but grew up in Angola, in a family with Indian and African roots. His father was a lawyer and his mother a high school teacher.

"I think my life has pushed me to research in depth the economic development of society and try to eradicate the problems that prevent people from living better lives," he said during an interview at the school's headquarters, located in the upper part of Barcelona.

“Teaching finance and marketing is a commodity: business schools need to provide more value.”

His unique worldview is making itself felt in the first seven months of his term. For now, Traça has limited himself to listening. Listening to teachers, staff, students... “For me, the cathedral thinking method, inspired by Antoni Gaudí's Sagrada Família, is very important. The architect didn't do everything, but laid the foundations for the work to be followed by those who came after him. That's why I think what I do during my term is the least important of all. Esade's mission must be clearly established so that my successor can follow it; that's how the school can go far,” says Traça. And that's why the director doesn't want limitations or restrictions in the process. “We're in the dreaming phase,” he notes.

In any case, Traça is clear that Esade's Jesuit values ​​must be preserved and enhanced. "We must train responsible leaders committed to their impact on society. I think private universities, and also public ones, have a problem because we are isolated from the rest of the community. Just look at what's happening in the United States," he comments. In this regard, he says efforts must be made to reach out to the rest of society. Therefore, he highlights the impact of Esade's scholarship program, although for now the director doesn't know if he will increase the budget, which was 5 million last year.

Traça is also very aware of current global challenges, and therefore wants to promote specialized training in technology and global governance. "Today, teaching finance and marketing is a commodity . Business schools need to provide more value," he believes.

Otherwise, it's still too early to predict the future of his administration. Traça doesn't rule out opening new university campuses, but he seems more interested in improving Esade's impact on the city of Barcelona and attracting international talent. Currently, 39% of the student body comes from abroad, combining the Barcelona and Madrid campuses. There are resources to invest, but they haven't yet been quantified. Last year, Esade earned €155 million and posted a net profit of €8.9 million. "We're going to allocate everything we have to grow the project," he asserts.

Traça is enthusiastic about his work and in his free time cultivates his mind through reading, especially nonfiction works related to economic development. After having lived on four continents, he feels very comfortable in Barcelona. For now, he lives there five workdays a week and travels to Portugal on weekends to join his family. He hopes his children and wife, who is an artist and interior designer, will soon be able to settle in the city. The quality of life, he says, is unbeatable.