ISSA School of Applied Management celebrates its 60th anniversary this academic year 2023/24. To commemorate this milestone, three meetings have been planned in Pamplona, Madrid and San Sebastian. The first of these was held in Pamplona on Thursday, November 16 with more than 200 people attending attendance .

The event, held in the hall of Amigos Building and presented by Antonio María Fernández, director of development of the center, was attended by Iñaki Vélaz, director of the Institute business and Humanism, who gave an educational lecture on the evolution of organizations, and Mireia Carabantes, who gave a brief chronology narrating the most important moments in the history of ISSA.

The meeting continued with a roundtable in which former students participated to share their testimony and remember their years at training, both in San Sebastian and Pamplona: Magdalena Sancho (ISSA '74), Carmen Carricas (ISSA '92), Marisa Pardo (ISSA '14) and Alba Zabalza (ISSA '23). The celebration ended with a few words from Victoria Rodriguez, director of ISSA: "Today we celebrate what ISSA is, thanks to the effort and work of those who have preceded us, starting with that group of professionals who, together with 20 intrepid students, started this project".

GALLERY OF MEETING

MAGDALENA SANCHO (ISSA '74) - Retired

"When the time came to choose what to study, I had my doubts. I was a good student: I liked Chemistry and at first I wanted to study pharmacy, but at the same time I was very communicative, very public relations. That's why, in the end, I chose ISSA. There were a lot of academic demands, but the atmosphere was very familiar and close. I have very good memories and anecdotes from those years, such as studying languages at laboratory using the headphones which, at that time, were state-of-the-art technology; or the views we had of the bay of La Concha".

CARMEN CARRICAS (ISSA '92) - General Manager Operations and Maintenance Quality at Acciona

"What struck me most about ISSA was the wide variety of subjects studied such as Accounting, International Trade, Law... That, and the languages, which have helped me during my degree program to work all over the world. In addition, ISSA gave me the ability to face new professional challenges with confidence. I remember very fondly the years in San Sebastian, where I made great friendships that I still keep".

MARISA PARDO (ISSA '09 - '14) - manager de la Obra Social y Atención al Paciente and Username in Hospital San Juan de Dios

"I keep many things from my time at ISSA, but above all the people. Ana María Fernández, my advisor and since then friend; Gloria Guerrero, with whom I collaborated in different projects of protocol and public relations; or Leticia Bañares, who is missing today, and to whom I lent a hand in matters of documentation and file. Those years were very special. The training I received allowed me, like many of my colleagues, to find work as soon as I finished and, since then, I have never spent a day without a contract. Wherever I go, I am a faithful supporter of profile ISSA".

ALBA ZABALZA (ISSA '23) - Strategy and Corporate Support Technician at Eggnovo

"I am part of the second graduating class of Degree in management Applied. I remember that in high school diploma I doubted whether to do a double Degree in Madrid or study at ISSA. I was convinced by the languages, the global and applied vision that I received from business and the project-based methodology. I was right. For example, in third year we had to work on a project in which we had to implement an ERP in a business and make a welcome guide ; two years later, barely six months after finishing the degree program, these are, precisely, some of the responsibilities that I have already had to assume in my short professional career".

A bit of history

On October 1, 1963, the Instituto Superior de Secretariado y Administración, soon to be known by its acronym ISSA, opened its doors in the Eva Enea mansion in San Sebastian. Throughout its six decades of existence, the academic center has been adapting its Study program to the needs of companies and organizations. While for decades its classrooms were used to teach internationally recognized programs of study in attendance of Senior Management, today ISSA offers the Degree in management Applied Management, a unique training in Spain whose academic and training proposal are based on the original, but which incorporates new knowledge, methodologies and ways of doing things to train experts in management and business organization, with a command of at least three languages and communication skills to work in international environments.