Michael Hathorn
Partner, Professor at OptimisMichael is a member of the Swiss Institute of Directors and a partner at the International Center for Corporate Governance where he leads the practice area on board development, including the development of individual board members. His current focus is on the development of sustainable boards to capitalize on the opportunities to pursue innovative Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) opportunities in the rapidly evolving environment of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Michael co-founded Optimis in 2005 and currently heads the executive learning function at Optimis Learning. In his prior role as Group Director of Leadership and OD at TNT in the Netherlands, Michael served on the Strategy Council and drove key strategic initiatives in the area of HR Transformation, established a Change Management center of Expertise and developed the Leadership and Learning Framework for the top 500 executives. Michael previously headed the Executive and Organisational Development function at Capital International in Geneva, a privately held investment management company, where he contributed to the development of the organisation during a period of extraordinary growth as an advisor and coach to members of the senior executive team. In the public sector, he is a contributor to the World Business Council on Sustainable Development and donates his time to a variety of professional organizations.
Previous academic appointments include IMD, EPFL Lausanne, the University of Geneva and Arizona State University. He currently holds adjunct faculty appointments at the University of St. Gallen and the University of Michigan.
Michael is a graduate of Louisiana State University with an MS in Marketing and holds a PhD in International Business from the University of St. Gallen. He is a member of various professional organizations, including the Swiss Institute of Directors, the Doctoral Network (DocNet) at the University of St. Gallen and the Society for Organizational Learning (SOL).