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Anne-Sophie Courtier, Dean of EM Normandie since 24 March 2025, reveals her ambitions for the future of EM Normandie. Her main objective: to become the best French post-baccalaureate business school on an international scale.

The appointment of Anne-Sophie Courtier as Dean - previously Director of Programmes at EM Normandie, a member of the Executive Committee, and with almost 20 years' experience in higher education and research - will enable the norman institution to pursue its mission to serve the region and its students with serenity: to train students and professionals who are free to think, free to learn and free to create. Its main and ambitious objective is to become the best post-baccalaureate business school in France with an international reputation.

Operational and academic excellence

With more than 150 years of history, EM Normandie is now one of the world's leading business schools, with international accreditations such as EQUIS, AACSB and AMBA and local Visas and Bachelor's and Master's degrees, proof of excellence and quality, as well as OFS (UK), KHDA and other UAE accreditations.

The school's pioneering approach has enabled it to grow strongly over the last few years and to establish itself as a top-ranking school in the post-bac sector (leader in the SESAME competitive entrance examination for recruitment to the Grande Ecole Programme), with 6 campuses of its own in France and abroad.

Backed by a strong, committed organisation with almost 500 employees, including 135 research professors, 2% of whom are among the most influential in the world, the school aims to strengthen its faculty to reach the threshold of 180 permanent professors of the highest calibre by 2030.

With the recent recruitment of a Brand Director (a member of the Executive Committee), the school also wants to develop the EM Normandie brand, which already has a strong identity and a good reputation both nationally and internationally.

Financial and academic performance

Anne-Sophie Courtier has set a target of €115 million in sales by 2030 (compared with €80 million today), with a measured increase in student numbers from 6,600 to 7,500 by 2030.

EM Normandie is therefore relying on :

• An increase in the faculty, with the recruitment of 10 professors/researchers per year, with an international dimension and whose expertise and impact will affect all the school's stakeholders;
• New levers for growth by developing Executive Education (training seminars for Vietnamese dignitaries, DBA, etc.), international programmes (Summer Schools and Short Programmes), the development of applied and funded research, the apprenticeship tax and partnerships with companies;
• A rethought international strategy to keep pace with globalisation in a context of de-globalisation, using its 3 international campuses (Oxford, Dublin and Dubai) and their local accreditations to recruit in their geographical areas, its vast network of partner universities to develop hubs and strategic partnerships, and to increase student exchanges and collaboration between teaching and research staff.

Valuing expertise

A genuine spark in the port and maritime environment in France and internationally, the IPER (Institut Portuaire d'Enseignement et de Recherche), based in Le Havre, is set to become the leading centre of maritime and port excellence for the continuing education of professionals in the sector and for research in the medium term.

A programme offer tailored to the younger generation

As the initiator of the recent skills and employability-focused curriculum reform that affects all programmes, Anne-Sophie Courtier is expanding the Curriculum Department with the arrival of Maude Corrieras as head of the PGE, with the aim of moving it towards a new 3+2 model (vs. 5-year PGE) from the start of the 2025 academic year.

This new scheme meets a societal need, in line with the fears of young baccalaureate holders, who express difficulty in projecting themselves over 5 years of study. This original proposal will enable them to tailor their course by choosing their Master's cycle from 6 options (Finance, Supply Chain, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Digital Innovation, Manager and Responsible Consultant). It will also encourage the blending of skills through double degrees in France and abroad, thanks to new partnerships with engineering schools, law schools, art and design schools, journalism schools and international universities. This new Master's cycle, with its 6 majors or double degree, will also be open to students recruited on the basis of their qualifications in M1.

As far as AI is concerned, EM Normandie aims to become a benchmark school by training and supporting everyone in the proper use of this technological and scientific revolution. The school integrated AI into its strategy very early on, particularly in its programmes (e.g. MS / MSc Artificial Intelligence for Marketing Strategy) as well as in its internal tools and collaborative mechanisms for students and its community.

The themes of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility remain at the heart of our teaching and research, and influence the entire community.

5-star student experience

The central point of Anne-Sophie Courtier's roadmap is to work on the ++ student experience, by optimising the quality of support services and offering tailored pathways: These include the Career Path to help students build their career plans and find jobs, the incubator-school for future entrepreneurs, the Wellness Centre to deal with diversity and inclusion issues, the special welcome scheme for international students, facilities for top-level sportspeople, a wide choice of modern languages and the opportunity to switch campuses each year.
Anne-Sophie Coutier is keen to listen to all of the school's stakeholders, and will be encouraging dialogue and cooperation with the Students‘ Federation, the Parents’ Association, the EM Normandie Foundation and the Alumni Association. 

EM Normandie is in Premier League, in the Top 3 of post-bac Business Schools. Thanks to past strategic choices and its excellent reputation, the school has solid assets and is in good financial health. My objective, with the support of all our teams, is to develop new services such as Executive Education, to build a range of differentiating programmes in line with market needs and to continue integrating innovative technologies such as AI into our practices. It is also essential to guarantee our students and their families, who have placed their trust in us, high-quality training and support, with a view to their future employability. Finally, I would like to pursue the fine history of EM Normandie, an uninterrupted series of pedagogical and societal innovations that have often been copied, and which has lasted for more than 150 years.

Explains Anne-Sophie Courtier Managing Director of EM Normandie.