Žan Dapčevič

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Academia 

Mr Žan Dapčevič is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Academia, College of Short-Cycle Higher Education in Maribor, Slovenia. Academia is family-owned and one of most renowned colleges in Slovenia with over 25 years of experience in hands-on experiential learning. Academia offers Slovenian Short-Cycle Higher Education programmes and UK Higher National Diploma programmes in Art & Design, Business, Computing and Engineering. In addition to leading Academia, he also serves the board of the Association of Slovene Higher Vocational Colleges – Association HVC.

Žan holds a bachelor's degree in Economics and International Business from The University of Auckland, New Zealand and is currently pursuing Executive MBA at Said Business School of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. In 2021, Forbes named Žan among 30 under 30 individuals in Europe changing the world with impact-driven startups.

"I am honoured to be part of the Global Student Prize, to raise awareness of students who are stepping an extra mile. Behind every successful institution is likely a motivated and dedicated student, who quietly helped teachers inspire classmates and built a dynamic and collaborative peer-learning environment by leading by example - and thus we should be grateful for their contributions."