Serena ROVAI

Biography

A specialist in the International Strategic Development of Higher Education, and the Internationalisation of Luxury Management, Dr Serena Rovai obtained her Doctorate in Management Science, in 2007, from Grenoble Ecole de Management, for which she focussed on the managerial practices of multinationals relocating to China.

Dr Rovai lived in Asia for more than ten years, predominantly in China, where she worked with the Chinese Ministry of Environment, the Italian Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education (she headed up the Sino-Italian Agency for International Development of Higher Education), and for the Italy-China Foundation.
She returned to France in 2011, where, for two years, she developed and managed the Europe-Asia Centre for Management and Innovation research centre at Grenoble Ecole de Management, whilst concurrently developing and heading up management programmes for luxury brands and the opening of international campuses, particularly in China.

Dr Rovai joined Excelia Business School in 2013, as Associate Professor, with responsibility for the Group's international relations, a position she held for six years, during which she developed an international strategy, international academic partnerships, and created off-site programmes in China, the United States and Italy. Since 2019, she has been Learning Coordinator of Luxury at Excelia Business School and, in this role, she oversees the MSc in Global Luxury Management and Innovation and the development of academic partnerships relating to Luxury Management, such as with the University of Florence in Italy and the ICHEC Brussels Management School in Belgium.

As a result of her expertise in the field of Luxury Management, she is a Visiting Professor at other universities including Hong Kong Polytechnic and the University of Florence, Polimoda.

She is the author of several books and articles on the Luxury sector, and organises joint academic research activities with other study centres specialising in Luxury. She is also on the Research Advisory Board of various international associations, and on the Review Committee of research journals in her specialist field.