David Simmons

Background

David has spent his professional life in management and education, initially as a teacher and Head teacher and was the first principal of The International School in Fontainebleau, France. He then spent 15 years in educational publishing, as European Manager for Oxford University Press, and subsequently as Sales Director, EMEA-ELT (English Language Teaching) Division of Pearson.

At Cranfield David was International Director and was responsible for developing and delivering, back in 2005, the International Business Assignment which is now an integral part of the MBA. He also served as a Director of the Full-time MBA and was for many years MBA Admissions Director. He been in charge of successive AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA accreditations over 15 years and managed SoM's various rankings submissions. David also served as a member of the External Relations Advisory Committee of the European Federation of Management Development (EFMD). He holds a Masters degree in English Literature and a Postgraduate Certificate of Education, both from the University of Cambridge.

Current activities

David is currently Executive Director of the EMBA Consortium, a group of 10 leading business schools across the world who collaborate to offer international programmes to students from participating schools (Cranfield is the UK member). He also acts as a consultant for several European business schools preparing for accreditation and continues to sit on AMBA and EFMD (EPAS) Peer Review panels. David is a practising Adult and Youth Magistrate (Justice of the Peace), sitting on the Cambridge bench.