David Bach is Professor of Strategy and Political Economy, Rio Tinto Chair in Stakeholder Engagement and Dean of Innovation and Programs. He is a political economy expert with a proven track record of creating impactful learning journeys in a dual role as both Professor and Dean.
Through his award-winning teaching and writing, Bach helps managers and senior executives develop a strategic lens for the nexus of business and politics. This enables them to more effectively navigate the myriad political challenges facing business, from corporate diplomacy and resurgent economic nationalism to stakeholder demands for greater sustainability and shaping policies for a post-COVID-19 world. His course The End of Globalization? – designed in the aftermath of the Brexit vote and the rise of populist leaders across Western democracies – received the 2018 Ideas Worth Teaching Award from the Aspen Institute.
Dean of Innovation and Programs at IMD, he has led efforts to enhance the school’s global reach and impact through both programmatic and pedagogical innovation.
IMD faculty and expert staff already set the bar for real learning with real impact on our campuses in Lausanne and Singapore, and at client sites around the world. In keeping with our mission to ‘challenge what is and inspire what could be,’ my goal for IMD is to similarly become the reference point for digital design and delivery, and to be unrivalled in our ability to craft learning journeys for our clients that combine the best of in-person and online – reaching more leaders in more places, more effectively, and driving greater impact.
Bach is one of the main architects of the Global Network for Advanced Management, an alliance of 32 top global business schools from five continents, of which IMD has been a member since 2012. In his previous position at Yale School of Management, where he served as Deputy Dean, he led the successful expansion of the school’s degree program portfolio and the creation of Yale Center Beijing, which he oversaw until joining IMD.
What drew him to IMD was the institution’s outstanding faculty, its innovative, global character, and a relentless focus on real impact.
“I’m thrilled to be surrounded by such incredible colleagues who share IMD’s commitment to learning and impact,” he said. “The opportunity to engage with leading executives from around the world on a daily basis and to help them solve some of the most pressing problems confronting business and society, is an incredibly exciting opportunity.”
Bach completed his undergraduate studies at Yale and earned a PhD in political science from the University of California at Berkeley.
