Cristina Garmendia, new president of Mediaset Spain

May 22. () –

The Board of Directors of Mediaset España, in its meeting held this Tuesday, has appointed the former socialist Minister of Science and Innovation and president of the COTEC Foundation, Cristina Garmendia, as the new president of the audiovisual group, after the departure of her predecessor in the Borja Prado position.

This was announced this Wednesday by the company, which recalled that, until this moment and since December 2017, Cristina Garmendia was an independent director of the group and a member of the Appointments and Remuneration Committee and the Audit and Compliance Committee. the society.

Regarding her career, Mediaset España has highlighted that she has a doctorate in Biological Sciences, specializing in Genetics. Cristina Garmendia Mendizábal (San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa, 1962) completed her doctorate in Molecular Biology under the direction of Professor Margarita Salas at the Severo Ochoa National Center for Molecular Biology. She completed her academic training with an MBA from the IESE Business School of the University of Navarra.

Currently, she is president of the COTEC Foundation, a private non-profit organization whose mission is to promote innovation as an engine of economic and social development, and is part of various advisory boards such as Unicef ​​and the Spanish Association against Cancer ( AECC), among others, and several university councils.

Garmendia is also an independent director on the boards of directors of Caixabank and Grupo Logista, where she holds the position of vice president; proprietary director at Ysios Capital Partners; and member of the Space Advisory Council of the European Commission.

She has founded, among others, the Spanish-American company Satlantis Microsats and was Minister of Science and Innovation of the Government of Spain during the IX Legislature (2008-2011). At the institutional level, she has stood out as president of the Association of Biotechnology Companies (ASEBIO) and has been part of the board of directors of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE).

Likewise, she has been an advisor to the European Commission as a member of the High Level Group on maximizing the impact of EU Research & Innovation Programmes, which has formulated the recommendations for the design of the IX Framework Program (2021-2027) of the European Union. Garmendia has been recognized on different occasions with awards for business research and innovation and has received, among other decorations, the Grand Cross of the Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III and Grand Officer of Merit of the Italian Republic.