Antonio Valero Vicente

The philosopher Salvador Pániker considered him a fiery presence, due to his passion and enthusiasm for infusing and provoking students in the difficult challenge of bringing out the best in themselves. In an interview with Pániker in the early 1970s, Valero is an active, engaged person who believes that "the businessman is a philosopher in action". He defends economic freedom and the role of private initiative: "An intellectual, university education does not guarantee students will learn how to think. A free social structure forces students to think more than a planned and imposed one".

Antonio Valero was also a visiting professor at the following academic institutions: Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires (INSEAD), Fontainebleau, France (1963); Instituto Panamericano de Alta Dirección de Empresa (IPADE), Mexico (1967–1968); Istituto Superiore per Imprenditori e Dirigenti di Azienda (ISIDA), Palermo, Italy (1970); Tel Aviv University, Israel (1971–1972); Austral University Business School (IAE), Argentina (1978); Universidad Simón Bolívar de Caracas (1979), Venezuela; Associaçao de Estudos Superiores de Empresa (AESE), Lisbon, Portugal (1980); School of Management and Business at Universidad de La Sabana (INALDE), Colombia (1986–1987); School of management at the University of Piura (PAD), Peru; and Instituto de Desarrollo Empresarial (IDE), Guayaquil, Ecuador (1998).

The impetus for launching the master's program came from Escrivá, who believed IESE should train not only business leaders and executives, but also young people. In February 1963, on a trip to Rome by professors Carlos Cavallé, Félix Huerta and Antonio Valero, they confirmed the idea that had been developing for months. Participation by professors Cavallé, Huerta, Juan Farrán and Esteban Masifern in the International Teachers' Program at Harvard allowed the IESE professors to get to know the school's master's program and some of its faculty members. In March 1963, Harvard professor Franklin E. Folts spent a month at IESE teaching classes and helping to develop the plan for creating the master's degree. In October of that same year, the Harvard-IESE Committee met for the first time, in Boston, with the Spanish business school seeking advice from the American institution on both academic and practical matters.

Valero joined the University of Navarra's IESE Business School as dean and professor (1958-1994) the year of its founding. He taught Business Policy, later renamed General Management, in various executive education programs, always instilling a sense of what a company committed to society and based on the ethical principles of Christianity is

His role as a professor was complemented by his responsibilities in the management and guidance of educational organizations: He was a member of the Governing Board (1958–1967) and the Board of Trustees (1967–1974) of the University of Navarra and vice president (1964–1966), then president (1966–1968) of the European Association of Management Training Centers (EAMTC), based in Brussels.

Valero gathered information from several colleagues and friends about what was happening outside of Spain in the field of executive education. In the spring of 1958, he traveled to Lille (France), whose École des Administrations des Affaires—directed by an MBA graduate from Harvard Business School (HBS)—had introduced the case method of teaching, a novelty in Europe. In May, Valero presented a proposal to Escrivá, who gave his approval and set the 1958–1959 academic year as its launch date.

With Valero as dean, the next steps were to select the faculty and develop the curriculum for the first program, called the Programa de Alta Dirección de Empresas (PADE), which was aimed at business leaders with at least a decade of experience in senior management. On November 25–26, 1958, the first classes were held at the Hotel del Parque in Sant Andreu de Llavaneres. The Programa de Dirección de Empresas (PDE) followed in the 1959–1960 academic year, and the Programa de Desarrollo para Alta Dirección de Empresas (PDADE, now known as PDG) in 1961. In 1964, with the help of Harvard Business School (HBS), IESE launched the Master in Business Administration and Economics (MED). It was the first time the term "master's" was used in Europe; it later took on the standardized name of MBA.

Valero was the dean of IESE from its founding in 1958 until 1967, when he was succeeded by Professor Juan Ginebra.

In the summer of 1957, José Javier López Jacoiste, an envoy of Josemaría Escrivá, met with Valero and conveyed the Opus Dei founder's desire to take measures to help business leaders manage their companies from a Christian perspective. Thus, Antonio Valero began the process commissioned by Escrivá to create a school that would train business leaders and executives.

Valero's involvement and deep knowledge of the business world and production led him to hold positions of responsibility in government institutions and in national and multilateral organizations. He was a consultant to the OECD (1957–1962), advisor to the Spanish ministries of Labor, Justice and Public Works (1964–1965), minister of National Economy (1977–1980), adviser to the Spanish minister of Transport and Communications (1978–1980) and the Argentine minister of Finance (1978–1981); and from December 1975 to May 1977, he was the Technical Secretary-General of the Spanish Ministry of Finance. Housing, Architecture, Urban and Spatial Planning.

Antonio Valero served as professor of the Chemistry of Dyes and Artificial Fibers, and of Prints and Textile Preparation (1954–1960), and later as professor of Industrial Organization and Business Administration (1962–1963) and of Theory, Structure and Economic Institutions, and Business Administration and Production Management (1963–1972) at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Terrassa. He was a professor of economics at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales de Bilbao (1977–1990).

With his extensive knowledge of the ecosystem of companies, Valero was a consultant, adviser, board member and executive, starting in 1950, when as a young engineer he helped to design a manufacturing plant with new technologies. Some of the most notable position he held included:

The son of Gabriel Valero and Dolores Vicente, he grew up in Zaragoza, where he began his higher education at the Escuela Profesional de Comercio (1943), before moving on to Industrial Engineering in Terrassa, where he finished top of his class (1949) and graduated with honors, earning the Premio Extraordinario de Fin de Carrera. In 1960, he completed his Ph.D. in Textile Engineering from the Terrassa School of Engineering, where he would also earn an engineering doctorate in Textile Industries

Antonio Valero Vicente (March 1, 1925 – August 8, 2001) was a Spanish industrial engineer, professor and the first dean of IESE Business School, part of the University of Navarra. A pioneer in executive education and in using the case method to teach management in Spain, he was committed to the world of business. Valero served as a board member and advisor in public and private sector companies, and was an advisor to various government ministries. He helped found the first centrist political parties in Catalonia. In 1968, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise.