NEOMA officially inaugurated its new campus in Paris on Tuesday 28 September. The high point of this event was the School reaching its 150th anniversary: what could be better to celebrate blowing out the birthday candles than a brand new campus in the heart of Paris!

The official inauguration of the new Paris campus of NEOMA was a scene of much emotion, great pride and the pleasure of meeting up again. That just about sums up the atmosphere at Rue Vandezanne on Tuesday 28 September.

Setting up in Paris

Jérôme Coumet, Mayor of the XIII^th arrondissement of Paris led the inauguration. “We wanted to transform the 13^th into a lively district with a rich student life, so a warm welcome to NEOMA!”

Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, then wished all those coming to the campus a good term, and reminded us that “Paris is more than ever a city of students, where our ways of teaching and learning are continuously rethought, an aim also shared by NEOMA. This new campus is therefore a symbol of youth to reinvent Paris”.

Territorial strong ties with Reims and Rouen

Vincent Laudat, President of the Rouen Métropole chamber of commerce and Jean-Paul Pageau, President of the Marne en Champagne chamber of commerce, recalled the historic and current support of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry for the development of NEOMA. Indeed, the two CCIs have always supported the School in training young people for local, national and international business.

Three campuses for a School of Excellence

“You’ve chosen the right School!” Michel-Édouard Leclerc, President of NEOMA, told the students present. “We must not be just another Business School but ask ourselves how we can be really useful. The ‘Rouen, Paris, Reims’ trio sets us apart from other Schools by the warmth of the welcome at Reims and Rouen and the way Paris shines at international level.”

With heartfelt emotion, Delphine Manceau, Dean of NEOMA, thanked all the teams who have helped create the new campus in Paris: “This project represents the culmination of three years’ work, during which we have made choices. Definite, committed and responsible choices. Building a new campus means envisaging the teaching and student life of tomorrow, trying to anticipate how students, teaching staff and colleagues will learn, teach and work in 5, 10, and 20 years’ time.”

The NEOMA community brought together

The inauguration evening for the new campus provided the opportunity to invite the former Directors of the School, major graduates and donors, the School’s principal partners, and journalists to celebrate the 150^th anniversary of NEOMA.

Symbolising the link between the School and its graduates, Delphine Manceau and Ilan Benhaim, Co-founder & Partner of Veepee and President of NEOMA Alumni, together cut the birthday cake into five pieces:

• 150 years of innovation
• 150 years of openness
• 150 years of excellence
• 150 years of internationalism and above all…
• 150 years of passion!

The students were, of course, also involved and were able to display their artistic talent by presenting, throughout the evening, a really professional standard of entertainment:

Extract from the musical comedy ‘Leonard de Vinci: The Secret of the Illuminati’, written, organised, choreographed and staged by the Bureau Des Arts Medus’art at NEOMA.

Tableaux of the Pop’izz, the NEOMA dance company, combining Hip-Hop, modern, classical and contemporary dance.

The finale to the evening was provided by the ROLLIN’, the music club of the Bureau des Arts.

#150yearsofpassion

See pictures of 150 graduates, together with their best memories of the School on the website dedicated to the 150^th anniversary of NEOMA.